Reader in face-reading: viewer's empathy and sensitivity to disgust impacts the first impressions of anomalous faces.
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| Title: | Reader in face-reading: viewer's empathy and sensitivity to disgust impacts the first impressions of anomalous faces. |
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| Authors: | Paruzel-Czachura, Mariola (AUTHOR), Workman, Clifford I. (AUTHOR), Taylor, Jesse A. (AUTHOR), Chatterjee, Anjan (AUTHOR) |
| Source: | Motivation & Emotion. Aug2025, Vol. 49 Issue 4, p455-468. 14p. |
| Subjects: | Empathy, Dehumanization, Personality, Physiognomy, Aversion, Facial abnormalities, First impression (Psychology) |
| Abstract: | People "read" others' inner traits based on their faces. They attribute positive traits to those who are more attractive (beauty-is-good) and negative to those with facial anomalies (anomalous-is-bad). But how do the "reader's" traits impact this process? Do more empathetic "readers" and those sensitive to disgust judge faces differently? We tested the hypothesis that viewers' psychological attributes affect judgments of people with facial scars and palsies. We predicted that participants who are less empathic and more sensitive to pathogen disgust would judge more harshly the warmth and competence of people with anomalous faces and also dehumanize them. We conducted an online study with 1493 participants, who assessed 31 psychological traits of anomalous faces presented in photographs. Using principal component analysis, we found that empathic concern did not affect impressions of warmth and dehumanization but did matter for competence. More empathetic participants saw anomalous faces as more competent. Sensitivity to pathogen disgust did not affect warmth and dehumanization but did affect competence. Higher sensitivity was related to higher competence assessments. Additionally, those with higher personal distress judged anomalous faces as less warm and competent and dehumanized them more. Those with higher sensitivity to sexual disgust judged faces as less warm, more competent, and dehumanized them more. We conclude that the question "who the reader is?" is crucial when studying "face-reading". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
| Copyright of Motivation & Emotion is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) | |
| Database: | Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection |
| FullText | Text: Availability: 0 |
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| Header | DbId: pbh DbLabel: Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection An: 186952877 AccessLevel: 6 PubType: Academic Journal PubTypeId: academicJournal PreciseRelevancyScore: 0 |
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| Items | – Name: Title Label: Title Group: Ti Data: Reader in face-reading: viewer's empathy and sensitivity to disgust impacts the first impressions of anomalous faces. – Name: Author Label: Authors Group: Au Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Paruzel-Czachura%2C+Mariola%22">Paruzel-Czachura, Mariola</searchLink> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Workman%2C+Clifford+I%2E%22">Workman, Clifford I.</searchLink> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Taylor%2C+Jesse+A%2E%22">Taylor, Jesse A.</searchLink> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Chatterjee%2C+Anjan%22">Chatterjee, Anjan</searchLink> (AUTHOR) – Name: TitleSource Label: Source Group: Src Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Motivation+%26+Emotion%22">Motivation & Emotion</searchLink>. Aug2025, Vol. 49 Issue 4, p455-468. 14p. – Name: Subject Label: Subjects Group: Su Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Empathy%22">Empathy</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Dehumanization%22">Dehumanization</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Personality%22">Personality</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Physiognomy%22">Physiognomy</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Aversion%22">Aversion</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Facial+abnormalities%22">Facial abnormalities</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22First+impression+%28Psychology%29%22">First impression (Psychology)</searchLink> – Name: Abstract Label: Abstract Group: Ab Data: People "read" others' inner traits based on their faces. They attribute positive traits to those who are more attractive (beauty-is-good) and negative to those with facial anomalies (anomalous-is-bad). But how do the "reader's" traits impact this process? Do more empathetic "readers" and those sensitive to disgust judge faces differently? We tested the hypothesis that viewers' psychological attributes affect judgments of people with facial scars and palsies. We predicted that participants who are less empathic and more sensitive to pathogen disgust would judge more harshly the warmth and competence of people with anomalous faces and also dehumanize them. We conducted an online study with 1493 participants, who assessed 31 psychological traits of anomalous faces presented in photographs. Using principal component analysis, we found that empathic concern did not affect impressions of warmth and dehumanization but did matter for competence. More empathetic participants saw anomalous faces as more competent. Sensitivity to pathogen disgust did not affect warmth and dehumanization but did affect competence. Higher sensitivity was related to higher competence assessments. Additionally, those with higher personal distress judged anomalous faces as less warm and competent and dehumanized them more. Those with higher sensitivity to sexual disgust judged faces as less warm, more competent, and dehumanized them more. We conclude that the question "who the reader is?" is crucial when studying "face-reading". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] – Name: AbstractSuppliedCopyright Label: Group: Ab Data: <i>Copyright of Motivation & Emotion is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) |
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| RecordInfo | BibRecord: BibEntity: Identifiers: – Type: doi Value: 10.1007/s11031-025-10141-1 Languages: – Code: eng Text: English PhysicalDescription: Pagination: PageCount: 14 StartPage: 455 Subjects: – SubjectFull: Empathy Type: general – SubjectFull: Dehumanization Type: general – SubjectFull: Personality Type: general – SubjectFull: Physiognomy Type: general – SubjectFull: Aversion Type: general – SubjectFull: Facial abnormalities Type: general – SubjectFull: First impression (Psychology) Type: general Titles: – TitleFull: Reader in face-reading: viewer's empathy and sensitivity to disgust impacts the first impressions of anomalous faces. Type: main BibRelationships: HasContributorRelationships: – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Paruzel-Czachura, Mariola – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Workman, Clifford I. – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Taylor, Jesse A. – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Chatterjee, Anjan IsPartOfRelationships: – BibEntity: Dates: – D: 01 M: 08 Text: Aug2025 Type: published Y: 2025 Identifiers: – Type: issn-print Value: 01467239 Numbering: – Type: volume Value: 49 – Type: issue Value: 4 Titles: – TitleFull: Motivation & Emotion Type: main |
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