Exploring the Human Response to Anger: Uncovering Insights through Infrared Thermography and Experimental psychology

Abstract

This study examines how exposure to angry versus neutral facial expressions affects facial temperature, aiming to validate thermograms as reliable measures of emotional responses. We focus on Saudi youth and explore the impact of different stimuli categories (young vs. old, male vs. female) on subjective feelings recorded by thermal cameras.The research involved a sample of 40 male participants selected from King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM) in Saudi Arabia, with an average age of 21.8 years (SD = 1.3). All participants had normal or corrected-to-normal visual acuity. The study comprised two experiments to examine the impact of exposure to angry versus neutral faces on physiological responses. Thermal data were collected using infrared thermography, focusing on variations in facial temperature as a key indicator of physiological reactions. Participants were exposed to stimuli consisting of angry and neutral faces from various demographic categories, including males, females, young individuals, and elderly adults. This comprehensive methodology combined behavioral analysis and infrared thermography techniqueThe behavioral findings indicated that individuals exhibited increased response times (RTs) when classifying angry stimuli compared to neutral face stimuli. Infrared thermography revealed a notable impact of anger, particularly in Region of Interest 5 (the area around the upper jaw). This effect was especially pronounced in individuals exposed to angry facial expressions, but not in those analyzing angry expressions of younger individuals.These findings provide insight into the unique physiological responses triggered by angry facial expressions, specifically identifying temperature rises in specific facial areas. The results contribute to our understanding of the physiological mechanisms involved in the processing of facial expression recognition.