Perceptions of rapport across the life span: Gaze patterns and judgment accuracy

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Social Cognition
• Human Development

Background:

• Previous research on age and emotion perception primarily used static images.
• Eye-tracking studies in person perception often focus on static images of individuals, not dynamic dyadic interactions.
• The study of rapport judgment across the lifespan, particularly with dynamic visual cues, is an emerging area.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate age differences in the accuracy and cue utilization for judging social rapport in dynamic dyadic interactions.
• To explore how younger and older adults use visual information (eye-tracking) when assessing rapport.
• To apply the Brunswikian lens model to understand age-related differences in social perception.

Main Methods:

• Employed a Brunswikian lens model analysis combined with eye-tracking.
• Analyzed 34 brief videos of opposite-sex college students discussing a controversial topic.
• Measured judgment accuracy and cue utilization in younger (n=47) and older (n=46) adults.

Main Results:

• No significant age differences were found in the overall accuracy of rapport judgments.
• Pathways to accuracy differed: younger adults relied more on specific behavioral cues than older adults.
• Eye-tracking revealed younger adults focused on targets' heads, while older adults focused more on targets' bodies.

Conclusions:

• Despite similar accuracy in judging rapport, younger and older adults exhibit distinct visual attention strategies.
• Findings highlight age-related shifts in social perceptual processing, particularly in how visual cues are utilized.
• The study provides complementary insights from lens model and eye-tracking data on age continuities and changes in social perception.