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
