Gender moderates the relationship between emotion and perceived gaze

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Social Neuroscience
• Human Perception

Background:

• Facial expressions convey critical social information, including emotional state and attentional focus.
• Emerging evidence suggests that biological sex and gender influence the perception and interpretation of facial cues.
• The interplay between emotional expression, facial morphology, and gaze perception requires further investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate whether gender moderates the relationship between facial expressions and the perception of direct gaze.
• To determine if observed effects are attributable to facial morphology or pre-existing gender stereotypes.

Main Methods:

• Study 1: Participants assessed direct gaze perception in male and female faces displaying joy, anger, fear, and neutral expressions with direct and averted gazes.
• Study 2: Employed methods to differentiate the effects of facial morphology from gender stereotypes on gaze perception.

Main Results:

• Direct gaze was perceived most readily in male faces showing anger or joy, and in female faces showing joy.
• These gender-modulated differences in gaze perception were linked to facial morphology, not gender stereotypes.
• Facial morphology of different genders amplifies or constrains emotional signals, consequently altering gaze perception.

Conclusions:

• Gender significantly modulates the perception of direct gaze, mediated by the morphology of facial expressions.
• The physical characteristics of male and female faces differentially shape the interpretation of emotional and attentional cues.
• Understanding these morphological influences is crucial for accurately interpreting social signals in human interaction.