How personality shapes gaze behavior without compromising subtle emotion recognition - Sorbonne Université
Pré-Publication, Document De Travail Année : 2024

How personality shapes gaze behavior without compromising subtle emotion recognition

Résumé

As personality shapes our emotional experiences and gaze behaviors, does it modulate our ability to recognize subtle emotional facial expressions? Does this influence of personality on gaze behavior persist when observing more intense emotional facial expressions? To address these questions, we conducted an eye-tracking experiment including 116 participants who had to identify dynamic emotional facial expressions (anger, disgust, fear, and happiness) of different intensity. In some trials, the expression could remain neutral. Participants were divided into two clusters based on personality dimensions via hierarchical clustering: those scoring high in dimensions associated with positive emotions, and those scoring high in dimensions associated with negative emotions. Results showed that, with neutral expressions, participants demonstrated a preferential gaze toward facial areas associated with their own personality valence -individuals with positively-colored personality focused more on the mouth area than others, seeking cues of happiness, whereas those with a negatively-colored personality directed their gaze more toward the eyes than others, potentially more in search of signs of negative emotions. These specific gaze patterns persisted for subtle emotional expressions, without interfering with the sensory discrimination and decision-making processes necessary for emotion identification, as elucidated by Signal Detection Theory. However, with more intense emotions, these specific gaze behaviors only persisted when the valence of the displayed emotion was congruent with that of participants' personality. These findings suggest that personality influences gaze strategies, facilitating emotionally congruent experiences without hindering the recognition of others' emotions, even subtle ones, that is crucial for effective social interactions.
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hal-04779807 , version 1 (13-11-2024)

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  • HAL Id : hal-04779807 , version 1

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Alice Cartaud, Dorine Vergilino-Perez, Laurence Chaby. How personality shapes gaze behavior without compromising subtle emotion recognition. 2024. ⟨hal-04779807⟩
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