Estimates of impressions based on frequency of blinking

The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of frequency of blinking on creating a personal impression. The subjects were 88 Japanese u niversity students, 35 males and 53 females, who rated stimulus persons on a seven-point semantic differential scale. The stimulus persons, two males and two females, were presented on a 20-second video simulating various bli nk rates, i.e., 3, 6, 9, 12, 18, 24, 36, 48, 72, and 96 blinks/min. A facto r analysis of the ratings yielded three factors, interpreted as Nervousness , Unfriendliness, and Carelessness. As the frequency of the stimulus person s' blinking increased, so did the tendency to rate them as more nervous and more careless. As for Unfriendliness, there was a U-shaped relation betwee n the frequency of blinking and the impressions formed. Present results pro vide evidence that frequency of blinking plays an important role in impress ion formation. Further implications of the findings are discussed.