ANGLE OF REGARD - THE EFFECT OF VERTICAL VIEWING ANGLE ON THE PERCEPTION OF FACIAL EXPRESSIONS

Two studies were conducted using video records of real faces and three -dimensional schematic faces to investigate the perceptual distortions introduced by viewing races at a vertical angle and their influence o n the attribution of emotional expressions and attitudes. The results indicate that faces seen from below were perceived as more positive an d less negative, while faces seen from above appeared more negative an d less positive. This effect seems to be moderated by interindividual differences in facial morphology, and perhaps by differences in dynami c aspects of expressions. The second study investigated the respective contribution of the upper half and the lower half of the face to the perceptual distortion found. In general, judges based their attributio ns of emotional state more on cues from the upper half of the face.