Sex-dependent effect of threatening emotion on the perceived gaze direction
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The integration of emotion and gaze direction is instrumental in understanding others’ intention and mental state. Previous studies have shown that threatening facial expressions have regulative effects on the perception of gaze direction. However, there was still a controversy about whether the sex of participants modulated the interaction between emotion and gaze direction. Here, we used a gaze direction judgment task to investigate whether the sex of participants modulated the emotional effect on perceiving the gaze direction. The cone of direct gaze (CoDG) was measured as a measurable index, which was put forward to acquire the scope of horizontal gaze directions within which a person perceived that others looked at himself/herself. A wider CoDG meant observers were more prone to regard others’ gaze as direct gaze. Results showed: 1) Perceiving the direction of gaze was mediated by emotion. Wider CoDGs for angry and fearful faces were found than those for neutral faces, and there did not exist such difference between angry and fearful faces; 2) Participants’ sex affected the perception of gaze direction, and the CoDG for men was significantly wider than that for women; 3) Participants’ sex modulated the role of emotion in gaze direction. With regard to the men, the CoDG for angry faces was significantly wider than that for neutral and fearful faces, and there existed a marginally significant difference in the CoDG between fearful and neutral faces. With regard to the women, the CoDG for neutral faces was significantly smaller than that for angry and fearful faces, and there did not exist the difference between fearful and angry faces. Therefore, our findings were partly in support of the shared signal hypothesis and indicated that the sex of participants could be a vital factor in modulating the interaction between gaze direction and facial expression.
情绪与注视方向的整合对于解析他人的意图与心理状态具有关键作用。既往研究表明，威胁性面部表情对注视方向知觉具有调节作用。然而，关于参与者的性别是否会调节情绪与注视方向之间的交互作用，学界仍存在争议。本研究采用注视方向判断任务，探究参与者的性别是否会调节情绪对注视方向知觉的影响。本研究将直接注视锥（cone of direct gaze, CoDG）作为可量化指标进行测量，该指标用于界定个体知觉到他人正注视自身的水平注视方向范围：直接注视锥范围越广，表明观察者越容易将他人的注视判断为直接注视。本研究结果如下：1）注视方向知觉受情绪调节。相较于中性面部表情，愤怒与恐惧面部表情对应的直接注视锥范围更广，且愤怒与恐惧表情间未发现显著差异；2）参与者的性别会影响注视方向知觉，男性的直接注视锥范围显著宽于女性；3）参与者的性别调节了情绪在注视方向知觉中的作用。具体而言，男性群体中，愤怒表情对应的直接注视锥范围显著宽于中性与恐惧表情，恐惧与中性表情间的直接注视锥范围仅存在边缘显著差异；而女性群体中，中性表情对应的直接注视锥范围显著小于愤怒与恐惧表情，恐惧与愤怒表情间未发现显著差异。综上，本研究结果部分支持共享信号假说（shared signal hypothesis），并表明参与者的性别可作为调节注视方向与面部表情之间交互作用的关键因素。
