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The visual impact of gossip.
Eric Anderson1, Erika H Siegel, Eliza Bliss-Moreau
1Department of Psychology, Northeastern University, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
Science (New York, N.Y.)
|May 21, 2011
Summary
Negative gossip influences visual perception, affecting whether faces are seen. This social affective learning impacts vision top-down, independent of facial features.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Social Neuroscience
- Visual Perception
Background:
- Gossip serves as affective information, signaling social relationships (friend vs. foe).
- Previous research indicates gossip influences face evaluation.
- The impact of gossip on the initial perception of faces remains underexplored.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate whether gossip influences the basic visibility of faces.
- To determine if affective information from gossip can modulate visual awareness.
- To examine the top-down influence of social affective learning on visual processing.
Main Methods:
- Two experiments utilized a binocular rivalry paradigm.
- Neutral faces were paired with negative, positive, or neutral gossip.
- Participants viewed faces presented to one eye and houses to the other, reporting perceptual dominance.
Main Results:
- Faces previously associated with negative gossip exhibited prolonged dominance in visual consciousness.
- Positive or neutral gossip did not significantly alter face visibility.
- These results suggest gossip can influence visual awareness independently of structural facial characteristics.
Conclusions:
- Gossip, particularly negative gossip, acts as a potent form of social affective learning.
- This learning can exert a top-down influence on visual perception.
- The study demonstrates that social information can shape even the initial stages of visual awareness.
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