2006 — 2010 |
Hess, Ursula Kleck, Robert [⬀] Adams, Reginald |
N/AActivity Code Description: No activity code was retrieved: click on the grant title for more information |
The Functional Equivalence of Morphological and Expressive Cues as Signals of Dominance and Affiliation
The faces of others provide us with a broad range of information essential to positive interactions and successful communication. Whereas some of this information, such as the sex and age of a person, is part of the relatively stable appearance characteristics of faces, other information, such as a person's emotional state or their behavioral intentions, is signaled by facial expressions. The long-term goal of the present research initiative is to examine how facial appearance and facial movement interact in determining the sorts of social messages we derive from others. Specifically, this research examines the functional equivalency between morphological facial features of dominance and affiliation (e.g., square jaw, round eyes) and emotional expressions of anger and happiness. That is, do dominant and affiliative faces elicit the same behavioral reactions as do angry and happy expressions, have the same valence as angry and happy faces, and belong to the same perceptual categories? The proposed functional equivalence of morphological and expressive cues could have important consequences for social interaction and communication in modern society. Specifically, the facial features that are perceived as indicative of dominance and affiliation are not distributed randomly in the population. Certain social groups have features that are perceptually linked more to one than the other of these two general dispositions. For instance, the cues linked to perceived dominance (e.g., square jaw, heavy eyebrows, high forehead) are more typical for men, and men are generally perceived as more dominant than are women regardless of their actual positions in society. In contrast, baby-facedness, a facial aspect more closely linked to perceived affiliation, is more common in women. Thus the tendency to perceive men as more likely to express anger and women as more likely to express happiness is therefore, at least in part, a function of the differences in facial morphology across the sexes. In addition, the research examines how changes in facial appearance with age or variations in facial appearance as a function of sex, race and various health conditions may bias or alter both the emotions and behavioral dispositions attributed to an individual. This research will contribute to the understanding of stereotypes of the elderly, and of the features that influence impression formation and interpersonal communication. The database of photographs of facial expressions will be made available to other scientists in the field, thus enhancing the basic infrastructure of research in this area.
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0.915 |
2011 — 2013 |
Adams, Reginald B Hess, Ursula Kleck, Robert E [⬀] |
R01Activity Code Description: To support a discrete, specified, circumscribed project to be performed by the named investigator(s) in an area representing his or her specific interest and competencies. |
A Wrinkle in Time: the Perception of Expressions in the Elderly
DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Emotion recognition and expression are an essential part of human interaction. It is hard to imagine any significant interaction in which no emotions are communicated and the consequences of emotional miscommunications can be far reaching. Health care settings are one example of interactions where the elderly routinely interact with younger people and where efficient emotional communication is essential. If emotion expressions are misidentified, this may not only lead to misdiagnosis, but can also have far broader effects, such as a loss of trust on the part of the elderly. The extant research has largely focused on the question of whether the elderly have emotion recognition deficits. However, emotion communication is a two way street and it is equally important that younger people understand the emotion expressions of older people. This may be a more difficult task than is generally assumed. Specifically, with age the face changes in ways that reduce the clarity of emotion expressions. Wrinkles and facial folds can mimic some expressions (for example, downturned corners of the mouth may look sad) or interfere with the clear expression of other emotions by confusing the observer. Further, the stereotypes that young perceivers hold regarding the emotional lives of the elderly may bias the emotional attributions they make to older persons. Both processes in turn can lead to a reduction in empathy. Specifically, a crucial element of empathic responding, mimicry reactions (i.e., the automatic and unconscious imitation of the nonverbal behavior of others that serves to facilitate feelings of rapport and affiliation in social interaction) can be disturbed both by lack of signal clarity and by stereotype processes. The studies proposed herein examine how emotion expressions shown by the elderly are perceived and reacted to by younger persons. One set of studies will focus on the capacity of younger individuals to accurately label such emotion expressions. This set of studies will use innovative computer based approaches that overcome limitations that have hindered research on this question in the past, such as the absence of controlled emotion expressions by elderly models and the issue of objective assessment of the expression. Emotional stereotypes that young adults hold regarding the emotional lives and responses of older individuals will also be assessed and their role in biasing the perception of emotion expressions will be investigated. Another set of studies will focus on empathic responding. In these studies we will assess to what degree younger individuals imitate the facial and postural emotion expressions of older individuals. The absence of such imitation is felt as a lack of rapport and renders interactions less pleasant and welcoming. This research will be the first aimed at clarifying our understanding of the way younger people perceive and react to the emotions of older people - a question of increasing general significance given the aging of the American population.
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