Abstract
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 617-624 |
| Number of pages | 8 |
| Journal | Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. B, Biological Sciences |
| Volume | 277 |
| Issue number | 1681 |
| Early online date | 28 Oct 2009 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 22 Feb 2010 |
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Keywords
- gaze
- dominance
- gaze-following
- joint attention
Cite this
Facial cues of dominance modulate the short-term gaze-cuing effect in human observers. / Jones, B. C.; DeBruine, L. M.; Main, J. C.; Little, A. C.; Welling, L. L. M.; Feinberg, D. R.; Tiddeman, B. P.
In: Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. B, Biological Sciences, Vol. 277, No. 1681, 22.02.2010, p. 617-624.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Facial cues of dominance modulate the short-term gaze-cuing effect in human observers
AU - Jones, B. C.
AU - DeBruine, L. M.
AU - Main, J. C.
AU - Little, A. C.
AU - Welling, L. L. M.
AU - Feinberg, D. R.
AU - Tiddeman, B. P.
PY - 2010/2/22
Y1 - 2010/2/22
N2 - Responding appropriately to gaze cues is essential for fluent social interaction, playing a crucial role in social learning, collaboration, threat assessment and understanding others' intentions. Previous research has shown that responses to gaze cues can be studied by investigating the gaze-cuing effect (i.e., the tendency for observers to respond more quickly to targets in locations that were cued by others' gaze than to uncued targets). A recent study demonstrating that macaques demonstrate larger gaze-cuing effects when viewing dominant conspecifics than when viewing subordinate conspecifics suggests that cues of dominance modulate the gaze-cuing effect in at least one primate species. Here we show a similar effect of facial cues associated with dominance on gaze-cuing in human observers: at short viewing times, observers demonstrated a greater cuing effect for gaze cues from masculinised (i.e., dominant) faces than from feminised (i.e., subordinate) faces. Moreover, this effect of facial masculinity on gaze-cuing decreased as viewing time was increased, suggesting that the effect is driven by involuntary responses. Our findings suggest that the mechanisms that underpin reflexive gaze-cuing evolved to be sensitive to facial cues of others' dominance, potentially because such differential gaze-cuing promoted desirable outcomes from encounters with dominant individuals.
AB - Responding appropriately to gaze cues is essential for fluent social interaction, playing a crucial role in social learning, collaboration, threat assessment and understanding others' intentions. Previous research has shown that responses to gaze cues can be studied by investigating the gaze-cuing effect (i.e., the tendency for observers to respond more quickly to targets in locations that were cued by others' gaze than to uncued targets). A recent study demonstrating that macaques demonstrate larger gaze-cuing effects when viewing dominant conspecifics than when viewing subordinate conspecifics suggests that cues of dominance modulate the gaze-cuing effect in at least one primate species. Here we show a similar effect of facial cues associated with dominance on gaze-cuing in human observers: at short viewing times, observers demonstrated a greater cuing effect for gaze cues from masculinised (i.e., dominant) faces than from feminised (i.e., subordinate) faces. Moreover, this effect of facial masculinity on gaze-cuing decreased as viewing time was increased, suggesting that the effect is driven by involuntary responses. Our findings suggest that the mechanisms that underpin reflexive gaze-cuing evolved to be sensitive to facial cues of others' dominance, potentially because such differential gaze-cuing promoted desirable outcomes from encounters with dominant individuals.
KW - gaze
KW - dominance
KW - gaze-following
KW - joint attention
U2 - 10.1098/rspb.2009.1575
DO - 10.1098/rspb.2009.1575
M3 - Article
VL - 277
SP - 617
EP - 624
JO - Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. B, Biological Sciences
JF - Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. B, Biological Sciences
SN - 0962-8452
IS - 1681
ER -