Contrast effect of emotional context on interpersonal distance with neutral social stimuli

In social interactions, valence-based judgments are an important component of interpersonal distances regulation. Within the framework of the Range-Frequency model, we tested whether temporal presentation of an emotional context, known to produce a contrast effect on valence ratings, also influences the regulation of interpersonal distances. Two groups of participants were shown virtual characters with either a neutral facial expression (target stimuli) or an emotional facial expression (contextual stimuli) in two successive sessions (angry then happy emotional context, or vice-versa). Participants rated the valence of the characters and judged the appropriateness of various interpersonal distances. The results showed a contrast effect of the emotional context on the valence rating of neutral characters, which extended to preferred interpersonal distance, although sparingly. The findings revealed thus that the emotional context alters more perceptual-related valence-based judgments than action-related interpersonal distance judgments.