Psychological Mechanisms for Building Interpersonal Relationships: Effects of Attractiveness in Recognizing Faces

2021 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 17K13901
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Social psychology
• Research Institution: Osaka University (2021); Otemon Gakuin University (2018-2020); Kyoto University (2017)
• Principal Investigator: Kuraguchi Kana 大阪大学, 人間科学研究科, 助教 (70791432)
• Project Period (FY): 2017-04-01 – 2022-03-31
• Keywords: 顔認識 / 魅力 / 視線

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This research project aimed to understand the psychological mechanisms underlying the ease of noticing people's faces, which is a key factor in building smooth interpersonal relationships, mainly in terms of differences in face attractiveness. In the face identification task, the effect of attractiveness was more likely to ensue when faces with differences in attractiveness had to be processed simultaneously as compared to when only one face was focused on. In other words, the differences in attractiveness may be used in recognizing faces instantaneously. In addition, gaze tendency and pupillary response differed depending on the attractiveness of the observed face. Hence, it was suggested that the intuitive attractiveness evaluation process, which instantly grasps differences in attractiveness, involves the generation of physical responses.

Free Research Field

実験心理学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究課題では，我々ヒトが他者の顔の個々の魅力度よりも魅力の差異に対して鋭敏である可能性と，他者に対する相対的な魅力知覚が無意識的に利用されている可能性を示した。これは，従来の顔魅力研究の知見をさらに押し広げるものであると同時に，日常生活場面で他者の顔から得られる情報を我々がどのように活用しているかを理解する一助となるものである。