What’s in a Gaze, What’s in a Face?

The Direct Gaze Effect Can Be Modulated by Emotion Expression

verfasst von: Roxana Pittig, Robrecht P.R.D. van der Wel, Timothy N. Welsh, Anne Böckler
Abstract: Gaze direction and emotion expression are salient facial features that facilitate social interactions. Previous studies addressed how gaze direction influences the evaluation and recognition of emotion expressions, but few have tested how emotion expression influences attentional processing of direct versus averted gaze faces. The present study examined whether the prioritization of direct gaze (toward the observer) relative to averted gaze (away from the observer) is modulated by the emotional expression of the observed face. Participants identified targets presented on the forehead of one of four faces in a 2 × 2 design (gaze direction: direct/averted; motion: sudden/static). Emotion expressions of the faces (neutral, angry, fearful, happy, disgusted) differed across participants. Direct gaze effects emerged—response times were shorter for targets on direct gaze than on averted gaze faces. This direct gaze effect was enhanced in angry faces (approach-oriented) and reduced in fearful faces (avoidance-oriented). “Weaker” approachand avoidance-oriented expressions (happy and disgusted) did not modulate the direct gaze effect. These findings suggest that the context of facial emotion expressions influences attentional processing.
Organisationseinheit(en): Institut für Psychologie
Externe Organisation(en): Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg
Rutgers University
University of Toronto
Typ: Artikel
Journal: EMOTION
Band: 23
Seiten: 400-411
Anzahl der Seiten: 12
ISSN: 1528-3542
Publikationsdatum: 2023
Publikationsstatus: Veröffentlicht
Peer-reviewed: Ja
ASJC Scopus Sachgebiete: Psychologie (insg.)
Elektronische Version(en): https://doi.org/10.1037/emo0001076 (Zugang: Geschlossen)

BibTeX

@article{995424cfd75d4651838915cb55324c15,
title = "What{\textquoteright}s in a Gaze, What{\textquoteright}s in a Face?: The Direct Gaze Effect Can Be Modulated by Emotion Expression",
abstract = "Gaze direction and emotion expression are salient facial features that facilitate social interactions. Previous studies addressed how gaze direction influences the evaluation and recognition of emotion expressions, but few have tested how emotion expression influences attentional processing of direct versus averted gaze faces. The present study examined whether the prioritization of direct gaze (toward the observer) relative to averted gaze (away from the observer) is modulated by the emotional expression of the observed face. Participants identified targets presented on the forehead of one of four faces in a 2 × 2 design (gaze direction: direct/averted; motion: sudden/static). Emotion expressions of the faces (neutral, angry, fearful, happy, disgusted) differed across participants. Direct gaze effects emerged—response times were shorter for targets on direct gaze than on averted gaze faces. This direct gaze effect was enhanced in angry faces (approach-oriented) and reduced in fearful faces (avoidance-oriented). “Weaker” approachand avoidance-oriented expressions (happy and disgusted) did not modulate the direct gaze effect. These findings suggest that the context of facial emotion expressions influences attentional processing.",
keywords = "Emotion expression, Gaze direction, Social attention, Social cognition, Visual attention",
author = "Roxana Pittig and {van der Wel}, {Robrecht P.R.D.} and Welsh, {Timothy N.} and Anne B{\"o}ckler",
note = "Funding Information: This research was supported by an Emmy Noether Program Grant (387752651) to Anne B{\"o}ckler from the German Research Foundation as well as a Discovery Grant to Timothy N. Welsh from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.",
year = "2023",
doi = "10.1037/emo0001076",
language = "English",
volume = "23",
pages = "400--411",
journal = "EMOTION",
issn = "1528-3542",
publisher = "American Psychological Association Inc.",
number = "2",
}