Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 28, 2026

Central and Divided Visual Field Presentation of Emotional Images to Measure Hemispheric Differences in Motivated Attention
Published on: November 16, 2017
Individual differences in emotion lateralisation and the processing of emotional information arising from social
Victoria J Bourne1, Dawn Watling
1a Department of Psychology, Royal Holloway , University of London , Egham , Surrey , UK.
Abstract:
Previous research examining the possible association between emotion lateralisation and social anxiety has found conflicting results. In this paper two studies are presented to assess two aspects related to different features of social anxiety: fear of negative evaluation (FNE) and emotion regulation. Lateralisation for the processing of facial emotion was measured using the chimeric faces test. Individuals with greater FNE were more strongly lateralised to the right hemisphere for the processing of anger, happiness and sadness; and, for the processing of fearful faces the relationship was found for females only. Emotion regulation strategies were reduced to two factors: positive strategies and negative strategies. For males, but not females, greater reported use of negative emotion strategies is associated with stronger right hemisphere lateralisation for processing negative emotions. The implications for further understanding the neuropsychological processing of emotion in individuals with social anxiety are discussed.
Related Concept Videos
Lateralization
Causes of Social Behavior I: Actions and Characteristics of Individuals
Role of Emotions in Social Life
Emotional Expression
Universal Facial Expressions
Psychologist Paul Ekman identified seven basic...
Socioemotional Development during Infancy
Primary Temperament Types
Labeling Emotion

