Physically attractive people are rated more favorably by others and even have higher personal and professional life success. It has been shown that clothing style and smiling influence...Show morePhysically attractive people are rated more favorably by others and even have higher personal and professional life success. It has been shown that clothing style and smiling influence attractiveness in previous research; but how about our personality traits? Crucially, our personality traits might also influence our judgements about attractiveness. Our personality traits, especially extraversion and agreeableness, may be effective on whom we find attractive and may explain the reason behind it. The present thesis aims to examine whether clothing and the facial expressions of the other person can moderate the relationship between our personality traits and judgements about attractiveness. It also aims to bring insight into when we feel ourselves attractive, and the role of the other person in the interaction. Thirty-one (N = 31) participants were recruited to examine the moderation. Participants were presented with videos of models, in two different conditions for clothing: provocatively dressed vs. conservatively and three different conditions for the facial expressions; smile, coy smile vs. neutral expression. Participants were then asked to rate the attractiveness of the person that they saw in the video and how attractive that person would find them in return. They are then asked to fill out questionnaires including the MINI-IPIP to measure extraversion and agreeableness. Moderation analyses showed that neither the clothing type, nor the facial expression of the people they are interacting with did not moderate the relationship between the personality traits and ratings of attractiveness. These findings are explained in the context of moderation models, and future research is discussed.Show less
Research concerned with emotion perception has typically relied on posed, static stimuli, and employed a forced-choice paradigm, limiting ecological validity and likely overlooking biases in...Show moreResearch concerned with emotion perception has typically relied on posed, static stimuli, and employed a forced-choice paradigm, limiting ecological validity and likely overlooking biases in perception. The current study employed an alternative methodology to assess differences in perception of real and matching avatar faces, as well as in their perceived intensity and judgment confidence. Additionally, the effects of gender of the perceiver, gender of the stimulus, and exposure to violence in videogames were examined. Seventy-nine participants were presented with 64 real and matching avatar expressions and rated the extent to which they perceived eight different emotions, as well as their judgment confidence and the intensity of the stimuli. On average, less happiness, and more anger and disgust was perceived in the avatar than real faces. Additionally, real stimuli received higher average ratings of intensity and confidence than their avatar counterparts. Finally, in contrast to previous research, gender of the stimulus and of the perceiver, as well as the exposure to violence in videogames had no effect on emotion perception. The cluster analysis uncovered several patterns in participants’ interpretations, suggesting unequivocal perception of emotions in stimuli. Overall, these findings suggest that the process of interpreting facial expressions is too complex and heterogenous to be fully captured by forced-choice paradigms. The study contributes to the field of emotion perception by proposing a methodology better suited to examine individual differences and biases in emotion perception.Show less
The ability to detect one’s own physiological state has been defined as interoception, and can vary greatly among individuals. In case of Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD), misattribution of internal...Show moreThe ability to detect one’s own physiological state has been defined as interoception, and can vary greatly among individuals. In case of Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD), misattribution of internal cues has been commonly observed, often resulting in an overestimation of bodily arousal. Additionally, when experiencing social anxiety, individuals were found to process social information, such as emotional expressions, with a bias towards threat. The anxiety of possible negative evaluation within this mental health condition may elicit a persistent fear or avoidance of social situations. As research on interrelations between social anxiety, interoception and emotional processing appeared to be sparse, this online study aimed to explore possible relationships in a non-clinical population. Participants (N = 98) performed an emotion recognition task and filled out several self-report questionnaires including those addressing their subjective beliefs regarding interoceptive abilities (accuracy and attention) and trait levels of social anxiety. Unexpectedly, hypotheses regarding positive relationships between interoceptive abilities and social anxiety, as well as social anxiety and emotion intensity could not be confirmed. A significant relationship between social anxiety, interoceptive attention and emotion accuracy was also not observed. As previous research did suggest the presence of a relationship between the aforementioned variables, our study may not have been sensitive enough. For future research, it is advised to make use of a larger sample size, which overcomes limitations of the obligated conduct of online research. Ultimately, a better understanding of interrelations between social anxiety, emotion recognition and interoception can contribute to improve tailoring of interventions concerning individuals with SAD.Show less
