Perceptions of variability in facial emotion influence beliefs about the stability of psychological characteristics.

Abstract

Beliefs about the malleability versus stability of traits (incremental vs. entity lay theories) have a profound impact on social cognition and self-regulation, shaping phenomena that range from the fundamental attribution error and group-based stereotyping to academic motivation and achievement. Less is known about the causes than the effects of these lay theories, and in the current work the authors examine the perception of facial emotion as a causal influence on lay theories. Specifically, they hypothesized that (a) within-person variability in facial emotion signals within-person variability in traits and (b) social environments replete with within-person variability in facial emotion encourage perceivers to endorse incremental lay theories. Consistent with Hypothesis 1, Study 1 participants were more likely to attribute dynamic (vs. stable) traits to a person who exhibited several different facial emotions than to a person who exhibited a single facial emotion across multiple images. Hypothesis 2 suggests that social environments support incremental lay theories to the extent that they include many people who exhibit within-person variability in facial emotion. Consistent with Hypothesis 2, participants in Studies 2-4 were more likely to endorse incremental theories of personality, intelligence, and morality after exposure to multiple individuals exhibiting within-person variability in facial emotion than after exposure to multiple individuals exhibiting a single emotion several times. Perceptions of within-person variability in facial emotion-rather than perceptions of simple diversity in facial emotion-were responsible for these effects. Discussion focuses on how social ecologies shape lay theories. (PsycINFO Database Record

Knowledge of Identity Reduces Variability in Trait Judgments across Face Images

“…However, in the pilot study we measured participant beliefs after completing the rating task. Taken together, our findings might suggest that exposure to variable images amplify beliefs about personality, as Weisbuch et al (2016) proposed, more than these beliefs guide trait impressions. We also found that these associations were apparent in the ungrouped conditions; it is difficult to explain how beliefs about personality would be predictive of rating variability when participants are not aware of which images belong to a given identity.…”

“…However, some research has demonstrated a relationship between these beliefs and social perception. Weisbuch et al (2016) investigated whether exposure to within-person variability in emotional expression would influence implicit beliefs about the stability of personality (Chiu et al, 1997).…”

The Social Effects of Emotions

“…Scholars have also begun to explore how observers make trait inferences from changing emotional expressions. Some research indicates that variable facial emotional expressions inform inferences of dynamic (rather than stable) traits (Weisbuch et al 2016), whereas other work suggests that more recent facial expressions overrule earlier ones in shaping trait inferences (Fang et al 2018).…”

Comparison of Psychological and Cognitive Characteristics between Professional Internet Game Players and Professional Baseball Players

“…During the test, the mean correct rate and reaction time from presentation of the pictures to pushing of the buttons were recorded. The test-retest reliability for emotional face identification is 0.93 [ 29 , 30 , 31 ] ( Figure 1 ). Faster reaction times and more correct responses in the Emotional Perception test represent better emotional perception [ 29 , 30 , 31 ].…”