Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 16, 2026
06:42
Continuous Theta Burst Stimulation of the Posterior Medial Frontal Cortex to Experimentally Reduce Ideological Threat Responses
Published on: September 28, 2018
12.4K
Priming with threatening faces modulates the self-face advantage by enhancing the other-face processing rather than
Lili Guan1, Mingming Qi1, Haijiang Li1
1Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China; Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China.
Brain Research
|March 14, 2015
Summary
Threatening social emotional information, like angry faces, can weaken the self-face processing advantage. This occurs by enhancing the processing of other faces, not by suppressing self-face recognition.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Social Psychology
Background:
- Social emotional information significantly influences self-perception.
- The impact of social threat on self-face processing remains under-investigated.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine how socially threatening faces affect the self-face processing advantage.
- To investigate the neural mechanisms using event-related potentials (ERPs).
Main Methods:
- Employed a prime paradigm with participants judging face familiarity (self, friend, stranger).
- Faces were primed with emotional expressions (happy, angry, neutral).
- Measured event-related potentials (ERPs), focusing on posterior P3 amplitudes.
Main Results:
- An interaction between prime face emotion and target face identity was observed at posterior P3.
- Self-faces showed a processing advantage (larger P3) after happy/neutral primes compared to friend/stranger faces.
- This self-face advantage diminished after angry face priming, with no significant difference between self and friend faces.
- Angry primes enhanced responses to friend and stranger faces compared to neutral primes, while self-face responses remained unchanged.
Conclusions:
- Priming with threatening (angry) faces can weaken the self-face processing advantage.
- This weakening effect is mediated by enhanced processing of other faces, not by suppressing self-face processing.
- Findings highlight the role of social threat in modulating self-referential cognition.
Related Concept Videos
01:24Facial Feedback Hypothesis
895
Charles Darwin proposed that facial expressions are an evolutionary adaptation for communication. He argued that these expressions are not influenced by culture but are universal across species. For example, a snarling expression with exposed teeth signals a threat in many animals, including humans. Darwin also suggested that displaying an emotion can intensify the feeling. Smiling, for example, could enhance one's sense of happiness. This idea laid the foundation for understanding the role...
895
01:28Automatic Processing and Automatic Social Behavior
365
Automatic processing refers to the cognitive operations that occur without conscious intent or awareness, playing a fundamental role in shaping social cognition and behavior. These processes enable individuals to navigate complex social environments efficiently by relying on mental shortcuts and pre-existing knowledge structures known as schemas. One of the most influential mechanisms underlying automatic processing is priming, which subtly activates mental representations through exposure to...
365
03:00Self-Evaluation: Self-Enhancement and Self-Verification
5.9K
Social psychologists have documented that feeling good about ourselves and maintaining positive self-esteem is a powerful motivator of human behavior (Tavris & Aronson, 2008). In the United States, members of the predominant culture typically think very highly of themselves and view themselves as good people who are above average on many desirable traits (Ehrlinger, Gilovich, & Ross, 2005). Often, our behavior, attitudes, and beliefs are affected when we experience a threat to our...
5.9K
02:09Stereotype Threat and Self-fulfilling Prophecies
43.1K
When we hold a stereotype about a person, we have expectations that he or she will fulfill that stereotype. A self-fulfilling prophecy is an expectation held by a person that alters his or her behavior in a way that tends to make it true. When we hold stereotypes about a person, we tend to treat the person according to our expectations. This treatment can influence the person to act according to our stereotypic expectations, thus confirming our stereotypic beliefs. Research by Rosenthal and...
43.1K
01:27Protecting Self-Esteem
280
Self-esteem, a central component of psychological well-being, is actively maintained through various cognitive and behavioral strategies. Individuals employ specific mechanisms to preserve a positive self-concept and mitigate threats to their self-worth, particularly in contexts involving social evaluation or personal feedback. Four primary techniques are commonly used to sustain self-esteem.Manipulating AppraisalsOne prominent strategy involves manipulating appraisals from others. Individuals...
280
01:17Strategies of Self-Presentation II: Self-Verification
267
Self-verification is a fundamental psychological drive wherein individuals seek affirmation of their self-concept from others, striving for consistency between their internal self-view and external perceptions. This drive operates even when the self-concept is negative, influencing interpersonal behavior and feedback preferences in complex and often counterintuitive ways. Unlike the self-enhancement motive, which seeks positive evaluations, self-verification prioritizes coherence and...
267