The Umeå University Database of Facial Expressions: A Validation Study

Abstract

BackgroundA set of face stimuli, called the Umeå University Database of Facial Expressions, is described. The set consists of 30 female and 30 male models aged 17–67 years (M = 30.19, SD = 10.66). Each model shows seven different facial expressions (angry, surprised, happy, sad, neutral, afraid, and disgusted). Most models are ethnic Swedes but models of Central European, Arabic, and Asian origin are also included. ObjectiveCreating and validating a new database of facial expressions that can be used for scientific experiments. MethodsThe images, presented in random order one at a time, were validated by 526 volunteers rating on average 125 images on seven 10-point Likert-type scales ranging from “completely disagree” to “completely agree” for each emotion. ResultsThe proportion of the aggregated results that were correctly classified was considered to be high (M = 88%). ConclusionsThe results lend empirical support for the validity of this set of facial expressions. The set can be used freely by the scientific community.