Social category modulation of the happy face advantage

Douglas Martin; Ewan Bottomley; Jacqui Hutchison; Agnieszka Konopka; Gillian Slessor; Rachel Swainson; Gillian Williamson

doi:10.1177/01461672241310917

Social category modulation of the happy face advantage

Douglas Martin^* (Corresponding Author), Ewan Bottomley, Jacqui Hutchison, Agnieszka Konopka, Gillian Slessor, Rachel Swainson, Gillian Williamson

^*Corresponding author for this work

Psychology

The Open University, UK

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

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Abstract

The size of the happy face advantage – faster categorization of happy faces – is modulated by interactions between perceiver and target social categories, with reliable happy face advantages for ingroups but not necessarily outgroups. Current understanding of this phenomenon is constrained by the limited social categories typically used in experiments. To better understand the mechanism(s) underpinning social category modulation of the happy face advantage, we used
racially more diverse samples of perceivers and target faces and manipulated the intergroup context in which they appeared. We found evidence of ingroup bias, with perceivers often showing a larger happy face advantage for ingroups than outgroups (Expt. 1-2). We also found evidence of majority/minority group bias, with perceivers showing a larger happy face advantage for majority
outgroups than minority outgroups (Expt. 2-3c). These findings suggest social category modulation of the happy face advantage is a dynamic context dependent process. Keywords: social categorization; emotion categorization; social cognition; person perception; face processing; happy face advantage

Original language	English
Number of pages	14
Journal	Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin
Early online date	20 Jan 2025
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1177/01461672241310917
Publication status	E-pub ahead of print - 20 Jan 2025

Data Availability Statement

All data are available to download at https://osf.io/8ewxd/

Supplemental material is available online with this article.

Keywords

social categorization
emotion categorization
social cognition
person perception
face processing
happy face advantage

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title = "Social category modulation of the happy face advantage",

abstract = "The size of the happy face advantage – faster categorization of happy faces – is modulated by interactions between perceiver and target social categories, with reliable happy face advantages for ingroups but not necessarily outgroups. Current understanding of this phenomenon is constrained by the limited social categories typically used in experiments. To better understand the mechanism(s) underpinning social category modulation of the happy face advantage, we usedracially more diverse samples of perceivers and target faces and manipulated the intergroup context in which they appeared. We found evidence of ingroup bias, with perceivers often showing a larger happy face advantage for ingroups than outgroups (Expt. 1-2). We also found evidence of majority/minority group bias, with perceivers showing a larger happy face advantage for majorityoutgroups than minority outgroups (Expt. 2-3c). These findings suggest social category modulation of the happy face advantage is a dynamic context dependent process. Keywords: social categorization; emotion categorization; social cognition; person perception; face processing; happy face advantage",

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AU - Hutchison, Jacqui

AU - Konopka, Agnieszka

AU - Slessor, Gillian

AU - Swainson, Rachel

AU - Williamson, Gillian

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N2 - The size of the happy face advantage – faster categorization of happy faces – is modulated by interactions between perceiver and target social categories, with reliable happy face advantages for ingroups but not necessarily outgroups. Current understanding of this phenomenon is constrained by the limited social categories typically used in experiments. To better understand the mechanism(s) underpinning social category modulation of the happy face advantage, we usedracially more diverse samples of perceivers and target faces and manipulated the intergroup context in which they appeared. We found evidence of ingroup bias, with perceivers often showing a larger happy face advantage for ingroups than outgroups (Expt. 1-2). We also found evidence of majority/minority group bias, with perceivers showing a larger happy face advantage for majorityoutgroups than minority outgroups (Expt. 2-3c). These findings suggest social category modulation of the happy face advantage is a dynamic context dependent process. Keywords: social categorization; emotion categorization; social cognition; person perception; face processing; happy face advantage

AB - The size of the happy face advantage – faster categorization of happy faces – is modulated by interactions between perceiver and target social categories, with reliable happy face advantages for ingroups but not necessarily outgroups. Current understanding of this phenomenon is constrained by the limited social categories typically used in experiments. To better understand the mechanism(s) underpinning social category modulation of the happy face advantage, we usedracially more diverse samples of perceivers and target faces and manipulated the intergroup context in which they appeared. We found evidence of ingroup bias, with perceivers often showing a larger happy face advantage for ingroups than outgroups (Expt. 1-2). We also found evidence of majority/minority group bias, with perceivers showing a larger happy face advantage for majorityoutgroups than minority outgroups (Expt. 2-3c). These findings suggest social category modulation of the happy face advantage is a dynamic context dependent process. Keywords: social categorization; emotion categorization; social cognition; person perception; face processing; happy face advantage

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Social category modulation of the happy face advantage

Abstract

Data Availability Statement

Keywords

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