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You look pretty happy: Attractiveness moderates emotion perception
Sofie Lindeberg1, Belinda M Craig2, Ottmar V Lipp1
1School of Psychology.
Emotion (Washington, D.C.)
|September 21, 2018
Summary
Facial attractiveness enhances the happy face advantage, particularly for female faces. This suggests attractiveness, like social cues, influences emotion perception based on positive evaluation.
Area of Science:
- Social Psychology
- Emotion Perception
- Facial Recognition
Background:
- A 'happy face advantage' exists: happy faces are recognized faster than angry faces.
- Social cues (sex, race) moderate this advantage, aligning with evaluative congruence.
- Attractiveness's moderating role in emotion perception is less understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate if facial attractiveness moderates the happy face advantage.
- To test if attractiveness influences emotion perception consistent with evaluative congruence.
- To compare the influence of attractiveness versus facial sex on emotion perception.
Main Methods:
- Four experiments involved participants categorizing attractive and unattractive faces (happy/angry).
- Categorization speed and accuracy were measured.
- Analyses considered face sex and attractiveness separately and combined.
Main Results:
- A happy face advantage was observed for attractive females but not unattractive females.
- Similar effects for male faces were primarily seen in error rates.
- Attractiveness showed a stronger influence on emotion perception than facial sex for females.
Conclusions:
- Facial attractiveness moderates the happy face advantage, supporting the evaluative congruence account.
- Attractiveness may exert a stronger influence on emotion perception than facial sex cues.
- This effect is particularly pronounced for female faces when attractiveness is salient.
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