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Virtual friend or threat? The effects of facial expression and gaze interaction on psychophysiological responses and emotional experience
Author(s) -
Schrammel Franziska,
Pannasch Sebastian,
Graupner SvenThomas,
Mojzisch Andreas,
Velichkovsky Boris M.
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
psychophysiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.661
H-Index - 156
eISSN - 1469-8986
pISSN - 0048-5772
DOI - 10.1111/j.1469-8986.2009.00831.x
Subject(s) - psychology , facial expression , gaze , emotional expression , fixation (population genetics) , arousal , facial electromyography , eye movement , eye tracking , cognitive psychology , eye contact , expression (computer science) , social relation , facial muscles , social psychology , communication , neuroscience , population , physics , demography , sociology , computer science , psychoanalysis , optics , programming language
The present study aimed to investigate the impact of facial expression, gaze interaction, and gender on attention allocation, physiological arousal, facial muscle responses, and emotional experience in simulated social interactions. Participants viewed animated virtual characters varying in terms of gender, gaze interaction, and facial expression. We recorded facial EMG, fixation duration, pupil size, and subjective experience. Subject's rapid facial reactions (RFRs) differentiated more clearly between the character's happy and angry expression in the condition of mutual eye‐to‐eye contact. This finding provides evidence for the idea that RFRs are not simply motor responses, but part of an emotional reaction. Eye movement data showed that fixations were longer in response to both angry and neutral faces than to happy faces, thereby suggesting that attention is preferentially allocated to cues indicating potential threat during social interaction.