New research suggests that the emotional content of a facial expression influences how well observers can predict social outcomes. A series of experiments indicates that people have a harder time recognizing causal links between social cues when the faces involved display negative emotions, such as sadness, anger, or fear. The findings were published in the Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology. Human interaction relies heavily on the ability to predict how one person will react to another. When a speaker smiles, an observer might expect the listener to smile in return. This predictive ability allows people to navigate complex social environments. Psychologists refer to this as contingency learning. It involves calculating the likelihood that a specific outcome will occur given a specific cue. Researchers have debated how emotional faces fit into this learning process. Some theories propose that threatening or negative faces are evolutionarily important and should grab attention quickly. Other theories suggest that happy faces are easier to process because they are distinct and rewarding. To resolve this, a team of researchers led by Rahmi …