The Effects of Directional Facial Cues on Electrodermal Conditioning to Facial Stimuli

AbstractPast research on women’s preferences for male facial masculinity in Western cultures has produced inconsistent results. Some inconsistency may be related to the use of different facial stimulus manipulations (e.g., between-sex sexual dimorphic facial manipulation or within-sex sexual dimorphic facial manipulation) that do not perfectly avoid non-facial cues, and pregnancy status may also influence women’s face preferences. We therefore recruited pregnant and nonpregnant Chinese women and manipulated the sexual dimorphism of male facial stimuli to explore the influences of manipulation methods, non-facial cues, and pregnancy status on face preferences. Results showed that: (1) in contrast with a general masculinity preference observed in Western cultures, both pregnant and nonpregnant Chinese women preferred feminized and neutral male faces generally; (2) pregnant women’s preference for feminized male faces was stable across manipulation methods, while nonpregnant women preferred feminized male faces except under between-sex sexual dimorphism manipulation; and (3) manipulation methods, rather than non-facial cues, influenced participants’ face preferences. Specifically, women showed the strongest preferences for femininity when face stimuli were manipulated by within-sex sexual dimorphic facial manipulation, followed by unmanipulated faces and between-sex sexual dimorphic facial manipulation. This effect was stronger for nonpregnant women in the unmanipulated condition and for pregnant women in the between-sex sexual dimorphic facial manipulation. This research provides empirical evidence of women’s preferences for sexual dimorphism in male faces in a non-Western culture, as well as the effects of facial manipulation methods, pregnancy status, and the interactions between these factors.

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Perceptions of Child Facial Cues as a Function of Child Age

Evolutionary Psychology ◽

10.1177/147470490700500409 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 5 (4) ◽

pp. 147470490700500 ◽

Cited By ~ 15

Author(s):

Anthony A Volk ◽

Janeen L. Lukjanczuk ◽

Vernon L. Quinsey

Keyword(s):

Parental Care ◽

Facial Cues ◽

Facial Stimuli ◽

Consistent Relationship ◽

Age Related ◽

Different Ages ◽

Child Age ◽

Age Related Changes

Child facial cues are known to influence adults' perceptions, attributions, and parental care behaviors. But how does the influence of these cues change with age? There are three competing theories regarding the influence of age on child facial cues: younger cues have the strongest influence, older cues have the strongest influence, and age cues do not influence adults. There are empirical findings that provide support for each of these hypotheses. Because previous studies have not focused on measures of adults' desire to provide parental care and have used limited stimulus sets and/or statistics, we conducted two studies to determine how age-related changes in child faces influenced adults' perceptions and ratings in the Hypothetical Adoption Paradigm. We presented approximately 200 adults with images of 12 different children at eight different ages (from six months to six years). Adults' ratings of adoption preference and cuteness were strongly and negatively related to the age of the child facial stimuli, while there was no consistent relationship between child age and adults' ratings of health. Our results support the hypothesis that facial cues associated with younger ages are most effective at eliciting adult responses associated with parental care.

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Cues for facial attractiveness and preference of sexual dimorphism: A comparison across five cultures

10.31234/osf.io/vh4rj ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Vojtěch Fiala ◽

Vít Třebický ◽

Juan David Leongómez ◽

Petr Tureček ◽

Farid Pazhoohi ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Sexual Dimorphism ◽

Wealth Distribution ◽

Local Environment ◽

Facial Attractiveness ◽

Facial Cues ◽

Facial Stimuli ◽

Sexual Shape Dimorphism ◽

Facial Images ◽

Strength Of Association ◽

Adaptive Pattern

It has been hypothesised that the strength of association between sex typicality and attractiveness follows an adaptive pattern across cultures. Such pattern allows for adjustment of individual preferences for facial cues associated with direct (parenting) and indirect (biological quality) benefits from mating with a potential mate according to environmental conditions. To test this hypothesis, we examined associations among intra-culturally perceived sex typicality, attractiveness, measured skin lightness, measured averageness, and sexual dimorphism of shape from facial images, while controlling for age, body mass, and facial width, in five distinct cultures with different environmental and socioeconomic conditions (Cameroon, N of facial stimuli = 200, 100 women; Colombia, N = 138, 66 women; Czechia, N = 100, 50 women; Iran, N = 87, 43 women; and Turkey, N = 185, 93 women). Our results suggest that measured sexual shape dimorphism and averageness are not significantly associated with neither perceived sex typicality nor attractiveness across the cultures. In all samples of female faces, however, perceived sex typicality was positively related to facial attractiveness. Women found perceived sex typicality in men as more attractive only in the Czech environment, with its relatively abundant resources, and in Colombia, which is a highly socioeconomically heterogeneous and competitive culture. Lighter skin raised the ratings of both attractiveness and sex typicality only in Cameroonian women. Darker men were perceived significantly more sex-typical but not more attractive in Cameroonian, Colombian, and Iranian samples. Altogether, our results highlight the need to control for which measure of sexual dimorphism is used (perceived or measured) and make a detailed description of the local environment. It is the perceived, rather than measured, sexual dimorphism that is associated with perceived attractiveness, and wealth distribution, rather than public, health that seems to affect masculinity preferences.

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Attentional Bias Among Adolescents Who Stutter: Evidence for a Vigilance–Avoidance Effect

Journal of Speech Language and Hearing Research ◽

10.1044/2020_jslhr-20-00090 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 63 (10) ◽

pp. 3349-3363

Author(s):

Naomi H. Rodgers ◽

Jennifer Y. F. Lau ◽

Patricia M. Zebrowski

Keyword(s):

Social Anxiety ◽

Attentional Bias ◽

Preliminary Evidence ◽

Cutoff Score ◽

Attentional Disengagement ◽

Social Stimuli ◽

Facial Stimuli ◽

The Social ◽

Attentional Engagement ◽

High Social Anxiety

Purpose The purpose of this study was to examine group and individual differences in attentional bias toward and away from socially threatening facial stimuli among adolescents who stutter and age- and sex-matched typically fluent controls. Method Participants included 86 adolescents (43 stuttering, 43 controls) ranging in age from 13 to 19 years. They completed a computerized dot-probe task, which was modified to allow for separate measurement of attentional engagement with and attentional disengagement from facial stimuli (angry, fearful, neutral expressions). Their response time on this task was the dependent variable. Participants also completed the Social Anxiety Scale for Adolescents (SAS-A) and provided a speech sample for analysis of stuttering-like behaviors. Results The adolescents who stutter were more likely to engage quickly with threatening faces than to maintain attention on neutral faces, and they were also more likely to disengage quickly from threatening faces than to maintain attention on those faces. The typically fluent controls did not show any attentional preference for the threatening faces over the neutral faces in either the engagement or disengagement conditions. The two groups demonstrated equivalent levels of social anxiety that were both, on average, very close to the clinical cutoff score for high social anxiety, although degree of social anxiety did not influence performance in either condition. Stuttering severity did not influence performance among the adolescents who stutter. Conclusion This study provides preliminary evidence for a vigilance–avoidance pattern of attentional allocation to threatening social stimuli among adolescents who stutter.

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