Search asymmetries with real faces: testing the anger-superiority effect.
The anger-superiority hypothesis states that angry faces are detected more efficiently than friendly faces. Previously research used schematized stimuli, which minimizes perceptual confounds, but violates ecological validity. The authors argue that a confounding of appearance and meaning is unavoidable and even unproblematic if real faces are presented. Four experiments tested carefully controlled photos in a search-asymmetry design. Experiments 1 and 2 revealed more efficient detection of an angry face among happy faces than vice versa. Experiment 3 indicated that the advantage was due to the mouth, but not to the eyes, and Experiment 4, using upright and inverted thatcherized faces, suggests a perceptual basis. The results are in line with a sensory-bias hypothesis that facial expressions evolved to exploit extant capabilities of the visual system.
Horstmann
Gernot
G
Department of Psychology, Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, Germany. gernot.horstmann@uni-bielefeld.de
Bauland
Andrea
A
D000328:Adult; D000786:Anger; D001288:Attention; D005145:Face; D005146:Facial Asymmetry; D005149:Facial Expression; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011930:Reaction Time; D014796:Visual Perception