Influence of violent contexts on facial reactions elicited by angry and neutral faces

  1. Aldunate, Nerea 1
  2. López, Vladimir 2
  3. Barramuño, Mauricio 2
  4. Gálvez García, Germán 34
  1. 1 Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile
    info

    Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile

    Santiago de Chile, Chile

    ROR https://ror.org/04teye511

  2. 2 Carrera de Kinesiología, Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad Autónoma de Chile, Temuco, Chile
  3. 3 Departamento de Psicología, Universidad de La Frontera, Temuco, Chile
  4. 4 Départament des Sciences Cognitives, Psychologie Cognitive & Neuropsicologie, Institut de Psychologie, Laboratoire d'Étude des Mécanismes Cognitives, Université Lyon 2, Lyon, France
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Journal:
Cognition and Emotion

ISSN: 0269-9931

Year of publication: 2020

Volume: 34

Issue: 7

Pages: 1524-1531

Type: Article

DOI: 10.1080/02699931.2020.1770203 GOOGLE SCHOLAR lock_openGREDOS editor

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Abstract

[EN] This study focuses on determining whether violent contexts influence the perception of aggressiveness in faces analysing spontaneous corrugator supercilii activity. Participants viewed pictures of neutral and angry faces preceded by a contextual sentence describing either violent or neutral actions. They were instructed to judge each face according to whether it was aggressiveness for neutral faces preceded by violent contexts, accompained by longer reaction times, and a significant increase of corrugator activity. Angry faces preceded by neutral contexts we judges as less aggressive and elicited less corrugator activity. In conclusion, our results provide evidence that facial reactions and aggressiveness judgement for faces are context-dependent. With this work, we contribute to the view that contextual cues guide the face's emotional meaning, under top-down processing.