Anxiety-related bias in the classification of emotionally ambiguous facial expressions.
High- and low-trait socially anxious individuals classified the emotional expressions of photographic quality continua of interpolated ("morphed") facial images that were derived from combining 6 basic prototype emotional expressions to various degrees, with the 2 adjacent emotions arranged in an emotion hexagon. When fear was 1 of the 2 component emotions, the high-trait group displayed enhanced sensitivity for fear. In a 2nd experiment where a mood manipulation was incorporated, again, the high-trait group exhibited enhanced sensitivity for fear. The low-trait group was sensitive for happiness in the control condition. The mood-manipulated group had increased sensitivity for anger expressions, and trait anxiety did not moderate these effects. Interpretations of the results related to the classification of fearful expressions are discussed.
Richards
Anne
A
School of Psychology, Birkbeck College, University of London, Bloomsbury, England.
French
Christopher C
CC
Calder
Andrew J
AJ
Webb
Ben
B
Fox
Rachel
R
Young
Andrew W
AW
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000786:Anger; D001007:Anxiety / Q000523:psychology*; D001288:Attention; D004644:Emotions / Q000145:classification*; D005149:Facial Expression; D005239:Fear; D005260:Female; D006240:Happiness; D006801:Humans; D007206:Individuality; D008297:Male; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual; D010552:Personality Assessment; D011930:Reaction Time; D012718:Set, Psychology; D012938:Social Perception