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Person perception from changing emotional expressions: primacy, recency, or averaging effect?
Xia Fang1, Gerben A van Kleef1, Disa A Sauter1
1a Department of Social Psychology , University of Amsterdam , Amsterdam , The Netherlands.
Cognition & Emotion
|February 2, 2018
Summary
The end emotion in dynamic facial expressions significantly influences personality trait judgments. Observers weigh recent emotional displays more heavily than earlier ones when forming impressions.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Social Psychology
- Nonverbal Communication
Background:
- Dynamic changes in emotional expressions provide crucial social information.
- Inferences about individuals can shift as their expressive behavior evolves.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how dynamic changes in emotional expressions impact stable trait attributions in person perception.
- To differentiate between primacy, recency, and averaging effects in trait judgments from changing expressions.
Main Methods:
- Three experiments were conducted examining perceivers' trait inferences from dynamic emotional expressions.
- Expressions transitioned from a 'start emotion' to an 'end emotion' to isolate effects.
- Judgments of dominance, affiliation, competence, warmth, and trustworthiness were assessed.
Main Results:
- A consistent and strong recency effect was observed across all trait judgments, with the final emotion heavily influencing ratings.
- A less pronounced primacy effect was also found, indicating integration of the initial emotion, particularly for affiliation, warmth, and trustworthiness.
Conclusions:
- The most recent emotion displayed in a dynamic expression has a greater impact on trait judgments than earlier emotions.
- Person perception is significantly influenced by the temporal dynamics of emotional expression, favoring recency.
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