Individual differences in social intelligence and perception of emotion expression of masked and unmasked faces

Facial expressions provide key information for successful social interactions. Recent research finds that accurate perception of emotion expressions decreases when faces are presented with face masks. What is unknown is how individual differences in social intelligence may influence perception of ma...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Cognitive research: principles and implications Vol. 7; no. 1; p. 54
Main Authors:	Swain, Riley H., O’Hare, Aminda J., Brandley, Kamila, Gardner, A. Tye
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	Cham Springer International Publishing 28-06-2022 Springer Springer Nature B.V SpringerOpen
Subjects:	Accuracy Behavioral Science and Psychology Cognitive Psychology Emotion perception Experimental Psychology Face Face Covering: Considering the implications for face perception and speech communication Face masks Face perception Intelligence Neurosciences Nonverbal Communication Original Original Article Perception Prediction Psychological Patterns Psychology Social Cognition Social intelligence Social interaction Social interactions Visual Perception Face masks Face perception Social intelligence Emotion perception
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Summary:	Facial expressions provide key information for successful social interactions. Recent research finds that accurate perception of emotion expressions decreases when faces are presented with face masks. What is unknown is how individual differences in social intelligence may influence perception of masked emotion expressions. In this study, participants ( n = 224) completed an emotion perception task of face stimuli presented with and without face masks and completed two measures of social intelligence: the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test (RMET) and the Tromsø Social Intelligence Scale (TSIS). Face masks were found to significantly decrease the accurate identification of emotion expressions, impacting the perception of disgust and sad expressions the most. Further, the type of emotion misattributed to facial expressions varied across expressions. Performance on the RMET test did predict perception accuracy, while scores on the TSIS did not. As face masks continue to be common globally, we must be aware that they cause interference with our social interactions and perceptions. Further, some individuals may be more negatively impacted by these effects than others. As such, it is important that we find ways to ensure that we are effectively communicating with one another and have patience when perception mistakes arise.
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23
ISSN:	2365-7464 2365-7464
DOI:	10.1186/s41235-022-00408-3