Temporal Extension: What We Know or Believe We Know About a Person Displaying Specific Emotions?
Temporal Extension: What We Know or Believe We Know About a Person Displaying Specific Emotions?

Summary/Abstract: This study investigated how the facial expressions of six basic emotions, the gender of the face stimuli, and observer’s need for closure affect impression formation. The sample included 434 students aged 18 to 25, 334 of whom were tasked with recognizing emotions, evaluating the face stimuli using the Interpersonal Adjective Scales-Revised, and completing the Need for Closure Scale (main study); while 100 assessed the attractiveness of the face stimuli (a pilot study with the aim to control for the effect of the assessed dimension). Individuals recognized as angry were perceived as the most dominant, while sad ones were the dominant. Happiness was linked to the greatest affiliative perception, whereas the faces with disgust and anger expressions were seen as least affiliative. Generally, men were perceived as more dominant and less affiliative, except for face stimuli depicting anger and disgust. Individuals exhibiting a greater need for closure tended to perceive fearful faces as less dominant and less affiliative, whereas those showing anger were perceived as more dominant. However, these tendencies need further research due to their weakness. The results were discussed within the framework of the communication theory of emotions and gender stereotypes.

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