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How Facial Expressions of Emotion Affect Distance Perception

Facial expressions of emotion are thought to convey expressers’ behavioral intentions, thus priming observers’ approach and avoidance tendencies appropriately. The present study examined whether detecting expressions of behavioral intent influences perceivers’ estimation of the expresser’s distance...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Kim, Nam-Gyoon, Son, Heejung
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2015
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4656825/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26635708
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01825
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author Kim, Nam-Gyoon
Son, Heejung
author_facet Kim, Nam-Gyoon
Son, Heejung
author_sort Kim, Nam-Gyoon
collection PubMed
description Facial expressions of emotion are thought to convey expressers’ behavioral intentions, thus priming observers’ approach and avoidance tendencies appropriately. The present study examined whether detecting expressions of behavioral intent influences perceivers’ estimation of the expresser’s distance from them. Eighteen undergraduates (nine male and nine female) participated in the study. Six facial expressions were chosen on the basis of degree of threat—anger, hate (threatening expressions), shame, surprise (neutral expressions), pleasure, and joy (safe expressions). Each facial expression was presented on a tablet PC held by an assistant covered by a black drape who stood 1, 2, or 3 m away from participants. Participants performed a visual matching task to report the perceived distance. Results showed that facial expression influenced distance estimation, with faces exhibiting threatening or safe expressions judged closer than those showing neutral expressions. Females’ judgments were more likely to be influenced; but these influences largely disappeared beyond the 2 m distance. These results suggest that facial expressions of emotion (particularly threatening or safe emotions) influence others’ (especially females’) distance estimations but only within close proximity.
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spelling pubmed-46568252015-12-03 How Facial Expressions of Emotion Affect Distance Perception Kim, Nam-Gyoon Son, Heejung Front Psychol Psychology Facial expressions of emotion are thought to convey expressers’ behavioral intentions, thus priming observers’ approach and avoidance tendencies appropriately. The present study examined whether detecting expressions of behavioral intent influences perceivers’ estimation of the expresser’s distance from them. Eighteen undergraduates (nine male and nine female) participated in the study. Six facial expressions were chosen on the basis of degree of threat—anger, hate (threatening expressions), shame, surprise (neutral expressions), pleasure, and joy (safe expressions). Each facial expression was presented on a tablet PC held by an assistant covered by a black drape who stood 1, 2, or 3 m away from participants. Participants performed a visual matching task to report the perceived distance. Results showed that facial expression influenced distance estimation, with faces exhibiting threatening or safe expressions judged closer than those showing neutral expressions. Females’ judgments were more likely to be influenced; but these influences largely disappeared beyond the 2 m distance. These results suggest that facial expressions of emotion (particularly threatening or safe emotions) influence others’ (especially females’) distance estimations but only within close proximity. Frontiers Media S.A. 2015-11-24 /pmc/articles/PMC4656825/ /pubmed/26635708 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01825 Text en Copyright © 2015 Kim and Son. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Psychology
Kim, Nam-Gyoon
Son, Heejung
How Facial Expressions of Emotion Affect Distance Perception
title How Facial Expressions of Emotion Affect Distance Perception
title_full How Facial Expressions of Emotion Affect Distance Perception
title_fullStr How Facial Expressions of Emotion Affect Distance Perception
title_full_unstemmed How Facial Expressions of Emotion Affect Distance Perception
title_short How Facial Expressions of Emotion Affect Distance Perception
title_sort how facial expressions of emotion affect distance perception
topic Psychology
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4656825/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26635708
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01825
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