Dataset Information

Are Happy Faces Attractive? The Roles of Early vs. Late Processing.

ABSTRACT: Facial attractiveness is closely related to romantic love. To understand if the neural underpinnings of perceived facial attractiveness and facial expression are similar constructs, we recorded neural signals using an event-related potential (ERP) methodology for 20 participants who were viewing faces with varied attractiveness and expressions. We found that attractiveness and expression were reflected by two early components, P2-lateral (P2l) and P2-medial (P2m), respectively; their interaction effect was reflected by LPP, a late component. The findings suggested that facial attractiveness and expression are first processed in parallel for discrimination between stimuli. After the initial processing, more attentional resources are allocated to the faces with the most positive or most negative valence in both the attractiveness and expression dimensions. The findings contribute to the theoretical model of face perception.

SUBMITTER: Sun D

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4663264 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Are Happy Faces Attractive? The Roles of Early vs. Late Processing.

Sun Delin D Chan Chetwyn C H CC Fan Jintu J Wu Yi Y Lee Tatia M C TM

Frontiers in psychology 20151130

Facial attractiveness is closely related to romantic love. To understand if the neural underpinnings of perceived facial attractiveness and facial expression are similar constructs, we recorded neural signals using an event-related potential (ERP) methodology for 20 participants who were viewing faces with varied attractiveness and expressions. We found that attractiveness and expression were reflected by two early components, P2-lateral (P2l) and P2-medial (P2m), respectively; their interaction ...[more]

PMID: 26648885

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Project description:Previous research has indicated that facial attractiveness may provide cues to the functioning of the immune system. Mating with individuals who have a more effective immune system could lead to a higher reproductive success. Our main aim was to test a possible association between immunoreactivity (stimulated by vaccination) and perceived facial attractiveness and healthiness. We experimentally activated the immune system of healthy men using vaccination against hepatitis A/B and meningococcus and measured levels of specific antibodies (markers of immune system reactivity) before and 30 days after the vaccination. Further, 1 day before the vaccination, we collected their facial photographs that were judged by females for attractiveness, healthiness, and facial skin patches for healthiness. In view of its proposed connection with the functioning of the immune system, we also measured skin colouration (both from the facial photographs and in vivo using a spectrophotometer) and we assessed its role in attractiveness and healthiness judgements. Moreover, we measured the levels of steroid hormones (testosterone and cortisol) and the percentage of adipose tissue, because both are known to have immunomodulatory properties and are related to perceived facial attractiveness and healthiness. We found no significant associations between antibody levels induced by vaccination and perceived facial attractiveness, facial healthiness, or skin healthiness. We also found no significant connections between steroid hormone levels, the amount of adipose tissue, rated characteristics, and antibody levels, except for a small negative effect of cortisol levels on perceived facial healthiness. Higher forehead redness was perceived as less attractive and less healthy and higher cheek patch redness was perceived as less healthy, but no significant association was found between antibody levels and facial colouration. Overall, our results suggest that perceived facial attractiveness, healthiness, and skin patch healthiness provide limited cues to immunoreactivity, and perceived characteristics seem to be related only to cortisol levels and facial colouration.

Dataset Information

Are Happy Faces Attractive? The Roles of Early vs. Late Processing.

Publications

Are Happy Faces Attractive? The Roles of Early vs. Late Processing.

Similar Datasets

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