A note on age differences in mood-congruent vs. mood-incongruent emotion processing in faces.

Manuel C Voelkle,Michaela Riediger,Ulman Lindenberger,Natalie C Ebner

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00635

Manuel C Voelkle, Michaela Riediger + Show 2 more

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https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00635

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Abstract

This article addresses four interrelated research questions: (1) Does experienced mood affect emotion perception in faces and is this perception mood-congruent or mood-incongruent?(2) Are there age-group differences in the interplay between experienced mood and emotion perception? (3) Does emotion perception in faces change as a function of the temporal sequence of study sessions and stimuli presentation, and (4) does emotion perception in faces serve a mood-regulatory function? One hundred fifty-four adults of three different age groups (younger: 20–31 years; middle-aged: 44–55 years; older adults: 70–81 years) were asked to provide multidimensional emotion ratings of a total of 1026 face pictures of younger, middle-aged, and older men and women, each displaying six different prototypical (primary) emotional expressions. By analyzing the likelihood of ascribing an additional emotional expression to a face whose primary emotion had been correctly recognized, the multidimensional rating approach permits the study of emotion perception while controlling for emotion recognition. Following up on previous research on mood responses to recurring unpleasant situations using the same dataset (Voelkle et al., 2013), crossed random effects analyses supported a mood-congruent relationship between experienced mood and perceived emotions in faces. In particular older adults were more likely to perceive happiness in faces when being in a positive mood and less likely to do so when being in a negative mood. This did not apply to younger adults. Temporal sequence of study sessions and stimuli presentation had a strong effect on the likelihood of ascribing an additional emotional expression. In contrast to previous findings, however, there was neither evidence for a change from mood-congruent to mood-incongruent responses over time nor evidence for a mood-regulatory effect.

Highlights

How does the way we feel influence the perception of the world around us, and how does this perception in turn affect our own feelings? As innocuous as it may seem, this question constitutes one of the most fundamental research objectives in psychology, ranging from basic research on attention and perception (e.g., Becker and Leinenger, 2011; Hunter et al, 2011) to research in clinical psychology and psychiatry (e.g., Elliott et al, 2002; Eizenman et al, 2003; Rinck et al, 2003; Stuhrmann et al, 2013)
We report results on the relationship between positive mood and emotion perception in faces
After that we will focus on the role of the temporal sequence in emotion processing by analyzing the effect of stimulus position on emotion perception across the six different facial expressions along with a short discussion of possible three-way interactions of mood × stimulus position × emotion (Hypothesis 3; Tables 1, 2, Part D)

Summary

Introduction

How does the way we feel influence the perception of the world around us, and how does this perception in turn affect our own feelings? As innocuous as it may seem, this question constitutes one of the most fundamental research objectives in psychology, ranging from basic research on attention and perception (e.g., Becker and Leinenger, 2011; Hunter et al, 2011) to research in clinical psychology and psychiatry (e.g., Elliott et al, 2002; Eizenman et al, 2003; Rinck et al, 2003; Stuhrmann et al, 2013). In particular the question of mood-congruent vs mood-incongruent information processing, its determinants and consequences, has sparked a lot of research. The present paper contributes to this literature by investigating the relationship between experienced mood and the perception of emotional expression in faces, which has been shown to be important for individuals’ social interactions (e.g., Baron-Cohen et al, 2000; Adolphs, 2003). Special emphasis will be put on age-related differences in mood-(in)congruent information processing, the role of the temporal sequence of study sessions and stimuli presentation, and the question whether mood may affect emotion perception, but whether emotion perception may serve a mood-regulatory function.

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