Temporal shifts in eye gaze and facial expressions independently contribute to the perceived attractiveness of unfamiliar faces

Pik Ki Ho, Andy Woods, Fiona N. Newell

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

We investigated whether attractiveness ratings of expressive faces would be affected by gaze shifts towards or away from the observer. In all experiments, effects of facial expression were found, with higher attractiveness ratings to positive over negative expressions, irrespective of effects of gaze-shifts. In the first experiment faces with gaze shifts away from the observer were preferred. However, when the dynamics of the gaze shift was disrupted, by adding an intermediate delay, the effect of direction of gaze shift disappeared. By manipulating the relative duration of each gaze direction during a gaze shift we found higher attractiveness ratings to faces with a longer duration of direct gaze, particularly in the initial exposure to a face. Our findings suggest that although the temporal dynamics of eye gaze and facial expressions influence the aesthetic evaluation of faces, these cues appear to act independently rather than in an integrated manner for social perception.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)831-852
Number of pages22
JournalVisual Cognition
Volume26
Issue number10
DOIs
StatePublished - Nov 26 2018

Keywords

  • expression
  • Face perception
  • facial attractiveness
  • gaze duration
  • gaze shift

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Experimental and Cognitive Psychology
  • Arts and Humanities (miscellaneous)
  • Cognitive Neuroscience

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