Abstract
BackgroundPrevious studies have shown that females and males differ in the processing of emotional facial expressions including the recognition of emotion, and that emotional facial expressions are detected more rapidly than are neutral expressions. However, whether the sexes differ in the rapid detection of emotional facial expressions remains unclear.Methodology/Principal FindingsWe measured reaction times (RTs) during a visual search task in which 44 females and 46 males detected normal facial expressions of anger and happiness or their anti-expressions within crowds of neutral expressions. Anti-expressions expressed neutral emotions with visual changes quantitatively comparable to normal expressions. We also obtained subjective emotional ratings in response to the facial expression stimuli. RT results showed that both females and males detected normal expressions more rapidly than anti-expressions and normal-angry expressions more rapidly than normal-happy expressions. However, females and males showed different patterns in their subjective ratings in response to the facial expressions. Furthermore, sex differences were found in the relationships between subjective ratings and RTs. High arousal was more strongly associated with rapid detection of facial expressions in females, whereas negatively valenced feelings were more clearly associated with the rapid detection of facial expressions in males.ConclusionOur data suggest that females and males differ in their subjective emotional reactions to facial expressions and in the emotional processes that modulate the detection of facial expressions.
Highlights
Rapid communication via facial expressions is fundamental to human social interaction
Our data suggest that females and males differ in their subjective emotional reactions to facial expressions and in the emotional processes that modulate the detection of facial expressions
Several previous experimental studies using the visual search paradigm to investigate this issue have demonstrated that the reaction time (RT) for detecting an emotional face was shorter than was that for detecting a neutral face [2,3], and such rapid detection was attributed to the emotional significance of the facial stimuli rather than to their visual features [3]
Summary
Rapid communication via facial expressions is fundamental to human social interaction. Several previous experimental studies using the visual search paradigm to investigate this issue have demonstrated that the reaction time (RT) for detecting an emotional face (e.g., angry, happy) was shorter than was that for detecting a neutral face [2,3], and such rapid detection was attributed to the emotional significance of the facial stimuli rather than to their visual features [3]. These studies did not examine sex differences. We investigated sex differences in subjective emotional experiences of arousal and valence and in the relationship between emotional experiences and detection performance in response to facial expressions
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