The Phenomenon of Lookism: Investigating the Peculiarities of Facial Perception

В статье рассмотрен феномен лукизма как социально-психологическая проблема. Актуальность исследования обусловлена ограничением возможностей людей, имеющих выраженные дефекты внешности, реализовать личный потенциал из-за предвзятого к ним отношения со стороны окружающих. На основе проведенного анализа отечественной и зарубежной психологической литературы выявлены сферы, в рамках которых люди чаще всего сталкиваются с лукизмом. Целью исследования являлось изучение особенностей восприятия человека по внешнему виду. Двум независимым группам были предложены фотографии (женщина и мужчина с дефектами внешности и без них) и авторский опросник для оценки следующих параметров: финансовой успешности, популярности у противоположного пола, уровня самооценки, наиболее предпочтительной сферы профессиональной деятельности для данного человека. Статистический анализ данных позволил установить значимые различия между тем, как респонденты оценивают популярность у противоположного пола, высоту самооценки и варианты трудоустройства у мужчин, имеющих и не имеющих дефекты внешности, а также популярность у противоположного пола, включенность в отношения, финансовую успешность и варианты трудоустройства у женщин с дефектами внешности и без них. Полученные результаты могут быть использованы психологами-практиками, специалистами психологических служб образовательных учреждений различного уровня для разработки программ повышения уровня толерантности к инаковости, предотвращения актов лукизма и психологической помощи лицам, подвергшимся дискриминации или находящимся в зоне риска из-за выраженных дефектов внешности. Особого внимания заслуживает психологическая помощь женщинам, возможности реализации которых в различных сферах деятельности во многом определены восприятием их внешности окружающими людьми. The article treats the phenomenon of lookism as a social and psychological problem. The relevance of the research is accounted for by the fact that people with some defects of appearance receive unjust and prejudiced treatment and cannot fully realize their potential. The analysis of research written by Russian and foreign psychologists shows that there are certain spheres where lookism is more likely to be prominent. The aim of the research is to investigate appearance-based discrimination. Two groups of people were asked to look at photographs (males and females with and without appearance defects) and to answer the questions of a survey aimed at assessing the following parameters: finical success, popularity with the opposite sex, level of self-esteem, preferable spheres of professional activities. The data of statistical analysis enabled the authors of the article to find a significant correlation between the way respondents evaluate the popularity with the opposite sex in men with and without appearance defects, their level of self-esteem, and their professional opportunities. There is also a significant correlation between the way respondents evaluate the popularity with the opposite sex in women with and without appearance defects, their involvement in relationships, their financial stability and employment opportunities. The obtained results can be used by practicing psychologists and specialists of psychological support groups in educational institution as guidelines for the development of programs aimed at the improvement of the level of tolerance to those who are different, as well as programs aimed at the prevention of discrimination and lookism and at providing psychological support to people who suffer from discrimination or are at risk of being discriminated on the basis of appearance defects. Special attention should be given to women whose self-realization is largely determined by the way people perceive them.

Percepção da Estética Facial em Relação ao Tratamento Ortodôntico: Revisão de Literatura

A preocupação com a percepção dos pacientes em relação à estética facial evidencia uma mudança de paradigma uma vez que durante o planejamento ortodôntico cada vez mais a opinião dos pacientes tem sido considerada, decisão que no passado era quase que exclusivamente profissional. Com essa mudança, se torna imprescindível quantificar a percepção do próprio paciente em relação à má oclusão e ao comprometimento facial associado a ela, visando estabelecer estratégias de tratamento exequíveis e que contemplam as queixas dos pacientes. Esta revisão de literatura teve como objetivo revisar estudos sobre a percepção da estética facial no tratamento ortodôntico. O desenvolvimento desta revisão foi realizado por meio de plataformas de buscas de pesquisas científicas como: PubMed, Medline e SciElo, utilizando os termos: agradabilidade facial, percepção, e análise facial para seleção dos artigos. Foram encontrados 143 artigos com buscas pelas palavras-chave, porém, 61 artigos envolviam pesquisas na área da cirurgia plástica, psicologia e otorrinolaringologia, sendo excluídos da coleta de dados, 19 artigos não indexados, 22 estudos eram teses e dissertações, no qual também foram excluídos. Por fim, foram incluídos 41 artigos na área da Ortodontia sobre tópicos que contemplavam a avaliação da percepção facial por diferentes avaliadores, assim como fatores que pudessem influenciar nessa percepção. Com base na literatura acerca do tema, pôde-se concluir que vários fatores podem influenciar a percepção da estética facial e que mais estudos devem ser realizados, visando entender as diferentes percepções da estética facial com o objetivo de alinhar as expectativas entre pacientes e profissionais. Palavras-chave: Agradabilidade Facial. Percepção. Análise Facial. Abstract The concern with the patient’s facial perception shows a paradigm shift, in which the decision of the treatment plan previously made only by orthodontists today includes more and more the participation of patients. With this change, it is essential to quantify the patient’s perception of malocclusion and the facial impairment associated, in order to establish feasible treatment strategies that address patients’ complaints. This literature review aimed to evaluate studies regarding the perception of facial aesthetics in orthodontic treatment. The development of this review was carried out by scientific search platforms such as: PubMed, Medline and SciElo, using the terms: facial pleasantness, perception, and facial analysis for the selection of articles. A total of 143 articles were found, however, 61 articles involved research in the field of plastic surgery, psychology and otorhinolaryngology, 19 were non-indexed articles, 22 studies were theses and dissertations and were excluded. Finally, 41 articles in the area of orthodontics were included, which dealt with topics on the assessment of perception by different evaluators, factors that could influence the perception of facial aesthetics. Based on the literature revised on this topic, it was concluded that several factors can influence the perception of facial aesthetics and that more studies should be carried out, aiming to understand the different perceptions of facial aesthetics with the objective to align expectations between patients and professionals. Keywords: Facial Pleasantness. Perception. Facial Analysis.

The Influence of Different Light Angles During Standardized Patient Photographic Assessment on the Aesthetic Perception of the Face

Background 2D baseline and follow-up clinical images are potentially subject to inconsistency due to alteration of imaging parameters. However, no study to date has attempted to quantify the magnitude by which such images can be influenced. Objective The objective of the present study is to identify the magnitude by which images can be influenced by changing the imaging light angle. Methods This study is based on the evaluation of 2D frontal images of the face and included a total of 51 subjects of which n = 14 were males and n = 37 were females. Faces were photographed at 0°, 30°, and 60° light angle under identical and standardized conditions. Images were randomized and rated by 27 blinded raters for age, facial attractiveness, body mass index (BMI), temporal hollowing, lower cheek fullness, nasolabial sulcus severity, and jawline contour. Results Facial attractiveness decreased, facial unattractiveness increased and the evaluated BMI (based on facial assessment) increased statistically significantly at 60°. The assessment of regional facial scores, i.e., temporal hollowing, lower cheek fullness, and jawline contour, showed no statistically meaningful changes both at 30° and at 60° light angle. Conclusion The results indicate that there might be an observed blind range in light angle (0°–30°) which does not influence facial assessment. Increasing the light angle past the threshold value to 60° might result in a statistically significant impact on facial perception which should be accounted for when documenting and/or presenting facial 2D images. Level of Evidence V This journal requires that authors assign a level of evidence to each article. For a full description of these Evidence-Based Medicine ratings, please refer to the Table of Contents or the online Instructions to Authors www.springer.com/00266.

A review of the effects of valenced odors on face perception and evaluation

How do valenced odors affect the perception and evaluation of facial expressions? We reviewed 25 studies published from 1995 to 2020 on cross-modal effects between olfaction and facial perception. The results indicate that odors may influence facial evaluations and classifications in several ways. Faces are rated as more arousing during simultaneous odor exposure, and the rated valence of faces is affected in the direction of the odor valence. For facial classification tasks, in general, valenced odors, whether pleasant or unpleasant, decrease facial emotion classification speed. The evidence for valence congruency effects was inconsistent. Few studies found that exposure to a valenced odor facilitates the processing of a similarly valenced facial expression. The results for facial evaluation were mirrored in classical conditioning studies. Faces conditioned with valenced odors were rated in the direction of the odor valence. However, the evidence was inconsistent in facial classification tasks in this literature. Although the research shows some clear patterns, other effects are mixed. Our future research recommendations include greater consideration of individual differences in sensation and cognition, individual differences (e.g., differences in odor sensitivity related to age, gender, or culture), establishing standardized experimental assessments and stimuli, larger study samples, and embracing open research practices.

Do We See Masculine Faces as Competent and Feminine Faces as Warm? Effects of Sexual Dimorphism on Facial Perception

Previous research on non-facial features demonstrated that masculinity and femininity correlated highly with perceived competence and warmth, respectively. Several studies focused on dimorphic facial cues and found an association between masculine faces and competence. However, there’s no study exploring the association between facial dimorphism and social judgment both using explicit and implicit experimental paradigms, i.e. Triad Classification Task, Implicit Associate Task. This study examined the association of masculinity/femininity and competence/warmth via explicit and implicit measures in three experiments. The results showed that participants saw feminine/masculine faces as more consistent with warmth/competence for both male and female faces. Besides, it was found that the above associations were more obvious in female participants. The current studies extended research of effects of dimorphic facial cue in social judgment and provided direct evidence linking facial masculinity with perceived competence, and facial femininity with perceived warmth.

Trust in AI Agent: A Systematic Review of Facial Anthropomorphic Trustworthiness for Social Robot Design

As an emerging artificial intelligence system, social robot could socially communicate and interact with human beings. Although this area is attracting more and more attention, limited research has tried to systematically summarize potential features that could improve facial anthropomorphic trustworthiness for social robot. Based on the literature from human facial perception, product, and robot face evaluation, this paper systematically reviews, evaluates, and summarizes static facial features, dynamic features, their combinations, and related emotional expressions, shedding light on further exploration of facial anthropomorphic trustworthiness for social robot design.

FEATURES OF EMOTION RECOGNITION BY STUDENTS FROM RUSSIA AND ASIAN COUNTRIES (Intellectual foundations)

Представлен теоретический анализ основных концепций восприятия выражения лица, раскрыты теории, посвященные особенностям выражения экспрессии, закономерностям восприятия эмоций людьми, специфике интерпретации. Особое внимание уделено кросс-культурным исследованиям, раскрывающим этно-специфические особенности выражения эмоций, «феномен узнаваемости», характер реагирования на определенную экспрессию представителями различных культур, стиль визуального контакта и др. В эмпирической части раскрыты результаты верификации теоретической модели интеллектуальных оснований распознавания эмоций, выявлено общее и особенное в реализации данной модели на двух выборках студентов (России и стран Азии). Общими для выборок являются следующие компоненты модели: социально-личностный аспект структурного компонента, поведенческий аспект содержательного компонента и регуляторная функция. Специфичны для россиян: деятельностный аспект структурного компонента, когнитивный и мотивационный аспекты содержательного компонента; для студентов из стран Азии: метакогнитивный аспект содержательного компонента, динамическая составляющая, функции адаптации и антиципации. Сформулированы практические рекомендации. Presents a theoretical analysis of psychological concepts of facial perception of emotions, reveals theories of emotion expression, laws of emotion perception and features of its interpretation. Special attention is paid to cross-cultural studies that reveal the ethno-specific features of expression, «phenomenon of recognition», the nature of the response to a specific expression of different cultures, styles of eye contact, etc. Empirical part reveals the results of the verification of the theoretical model of the intellectual foundations of emotion recognition, identifies common and particular aspects in the implementation of this model on two samples of students (from Russia and Asia). Both samples have common components: social-personal aspect of the structural component, behavioral aspect of the meaningful component and regulation function. Specific for Russian students are the activity aspect of the structural component, cognitive and motivational aspects of the meaningful component. Specific for students from Asian countries are the metacognitive aspect of the meaningful component, the dynamic component, the functions of adaptation and anticipation. The article also contains practical recommendations.

Perception of “Live” Facial Expressions

The article provides a review of experimental studies of interpersonal perception on the material of static and dynamic facial expressions as a unique source of information about the person’s inner world. The focus is on the patterns of perception of a moving face, included in the processes of communication and joint activities (an alternative to the most commonly studied perception of static images of a person outside of a behavioral context). The review includes four interrelated topics: face statics and dynamics in the recognition of emotional expressions; specificity of perception of moving face expressions; multimodal integration of emotional cues; generation and perception of facial expressions in communication processes. The analysis identifies the most promising areas of research of face in motion. We show that the static and dynamic modes of facial perception complement each other, and describe the role of qualitative features of the facial expression dynamics in assessing the emotional state of a person. Facial expression is considered as part of a holistic multimodal manifestation of emotions. The importance of facial movements as an instrument of social interaction is emphasized.