Psychological research has long acknowledged that facial expressions can implicitly trigger affective
psychophysiological responses. However, whether verbal information can alter the meaning of facial
emotions and corresponding response patterns has not been tested. This study examined emotional
facial expressions as cues for instructed threat-of-shock or safety, with a focus on defensive responding.
In addition, reversal instructions were introduced to test the impact of explicit safety instructions on
fear extinction. Forty participants were instructed that they would receive unpleasant electric shocks,
for instance, when viewing happy but not angry faces. In a second block, instructions were reversed
(e.g., now angry faces cued shock). Happy, neutral, and angry faces were repeatedly presented, and
auditory startle probes were delivered in half of the trials. The defensive startle reflex was potentiated
for threat compared to safety cues. Importantly, this effect occurred regardless of whether threat
was cued by happy or angry expressions. Although the typical pattern of response habituation was
observed, defense activation to newly instructed threat cues remained significantly enhanced in the
second part of the experiment, and it was more pronounced in more socially anxious participants.
Thus, anxious individuals did not exhibit more pronounced defense activation compared to less anxious
participants, but their defense activation was more persistent.
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