Fig 2 - uploaded by Giulio Gabrieli
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Schematic representation of the experimental procedure. Faces were presented for 4 seconds, alternated with a grey screen with a central fixation cross that was presented for 3 seconds. Fixation pupil's dilation was later used to take out baseline
Source publication
Faces are pivotal social stimuli that convey a tremendous amount of information and trigger numerous cognitive processes and consequent behaviors. Among the numerous factors that mediate face perception, we focused our attention on two particular phenomena and their interaction: the Baby Schema effect (BSE) and the Mere Exposure effect (MEE). Accor...
Contexts in source publication
Context 1
... participants were shown all the pictures of the faces. The presentation order of stimuli was randomized across participants. Each face was presented for 4 seconds, followed by a grey screen with a central cross used as a fixation point that was presented for 3 seconds. Pupil diameter recorded during the fixation-point screen was used as baseline (Fig. 2). During the procedure, the experimenters waited outside the room to avoid unwanted influences on the participants. After the procedure, participants received an e-mail containing a questionnaire about their attitude toward each face; specifically, each stimulus was presented again separately, together with three questions: i) How ...
Context 2
... participants were shown all the pictures of the faces. The presentation order of stimuli was randomized across participants. Each face was presented for 4 seconds, followed by a grey screen with a central cross used as a fixation point that was presented for 3 seconds. Pupil diameter recorded during the fixation-point screen was used as baseline (Fig. 2). During the procedure, the experimenters waited outside the room to avoid unwanted influences on the participants. After the procedure, participants received an e-mail containing a questionnaire about their attitude toward each face; specifically, each stimulus was presented again separately, together with three questions: i) How ...
Citations
... Faces are known to play a prominent role in social cognition [1,2], being stimuli from which it is possible to estimate different traits of a person. It is possible to extract several objective characteristics, such as ethnicity, gender or age, of a stranger from the aesthetic appearance of the face. ...
To curb the diffusion of the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2), governments worldwide have introduced different policies, including lockdowns, social distancing, and mandatory mask wearing. Face mask wearing, especially, has an impact on the formation of first impressions, given that when meeting someone for the first time, individuals rely on the only available piece of information, the newly met person's aesthetic appearance, in order to make initial estimations of other traits, such as competence, intelligence, or trustworthiness. However, face mask wearing affects the aesthetic appearance of an individual, creating uncertainty which, in turn, has been reported to reduce others' perceived trustworthiness. In this paper, the influence of face mask wearing on strangers' perceived trustworthiness and aesthetic appearance is assessed to verify the impact of this policy on impression formation. Participants (N = 71) have been instructed to assess the trustworthiness and the aesthetic appearance of a selection of 96 images depicting individuals of different ages (children, adults, and older adults), gender (men and women), and ethnicity (Asians or Caucasians). Participants were randomly divided into two groups: an experimental group and a control group. Participants in the experimental group (N = 38) rated faces of individuals wearing a face mask, while participants in the control group rated the same faces but in the absence of a face mask. Images were presented in random order. For each face, participants were asked to rate the aesthetic appearance and perceived trustworthiness of the stranger on two different 100-point Likert scales. Results demonstrate that (i) the correlation between perceived trustworthiness and aesthetic appearance is not affected by the presence of a face mask, and (ii) age, but not ethnicity and gender, influences the magnitude of differences in perceived trustworthiness levels during mask wearing.
