Abstract
When observing two individuals, people are faster and better able to identify them as other people if they are facing each other than if they are facing away from each other. This advantage disappears when the images are inverted, suggesting that the visual system is particularly sensitive to dyads in this upright configuration, and perceptually groups socially engaged dyads into a single holistic unit. This dyadic inversion effect was obtained with images of full bodies. Body information was sufficient to elicit this effect even when information about head orientation was absent. However, it has not been tested whether the dyadic inversion effect occurs with face images and whether the emotions displayed by the faces modulate the effect. In three experiments we obtained robust dyadic inversion with face images. Holistic processing of upright face pairs occurred for neutral, happy, and sad faces but not for angry and fearful face pairs. Thus, perceptual grouping of individuals into pairs appears to depend on the emotional expressions of individual faces and the interpersonal relations they imply.
Highlights
Humans can decode a great deal of social information at a glance
Experiment 1 aimed to generalise the dyadic inversion effect to faces, and to explore the role that emotional expression plays in this effect
We found a dyadic inversion effect for both neutral and happy face pairs
Summary
People make fast, consistent [1,2], and accurate [3] ( see [4]) inferences about their personality and internal emotional or mental states [5]. The capacity to process social information has been explored at the level of perceiving individual people, but there has been limited research on how people view the relationships and interactions of others from an allocentric perspective–that is, how they process information about social systems that they are not directly a part of. Mechanisms for decoding social information relating to hierarchies and alliances in allocentric contexts have been addressed [6], this research has focussed on quite abstract inferences based on prior knowledge of the individuals involved. Recent evidence suggests that people can process relational information about two individuals in a privileged way to how information about single individuals is processed.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
