title: Followers are not followed: Observed group interactions modulate subsequent social attention.
abstract: We asked whether previous observations of group interactions modulate subsequent social attention episodes. Participants first completed a learning phase with 2 conditions. In the "leader" condition 1 of 3 identities turned her gaze first, followed by the 2 other faces. In the "follower" condition, 1 of the identities turned her gaze after the 2 other faces had first shifted their gaze. Thus, participants observed that some individuals were consistently leaders and others followers of others' attention. In the test phase, the faces of leaders and followers were presented in a gaze cueing paradigm. Remarkably, the followers did not elicit gaze cueing. Our data demonstrate that individuals who do not guide group attention in exploring the environment are ineffective social attention directors in later encounters. Thus, the role played in previous group social attention interactions modulates the relative weight assigned to others' gaze: we ignore the gaze of group followers.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Torino.
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-0062-437X
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Capozzi
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Torino.
authors.forename: Cristina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Becchio
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, University of East Anglia.
authors.forename: Cesco
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Willemse
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, University of East Anglia.
authors.forename: Andrew P
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Bayliss
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D003463:Cues; D005260:Female; D005403:Fixation, Ocular / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D007857:Leadership; D007858:Learning / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D012919:Social Behavior; D055815:Young Adult