Trait Anxiety Is Associated with Negative Interpretations When Resolving Valence Ambiguity of Surprised Faces

• Published in: Frontiers in psychology Vol. 7; p. 1164
• Main Authors: Park, Gewnhi, Vasey, Michael W, Kim, Grace, Hu, Dixie D, Thayer, Julian F
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland Frontiers Media S.A 03-08-2016
• Subjects: Anxiety; interpretation bias; Negativity bias; Psychology; SPATIAL FREUQENCIES; SURPRISED FACES; anxiety; spatial frequencies; interpretation bias; surprised faces; negativity bias
• ISSN: 1664-1078; 1664-1078
• DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01164

The current research examines whether trait anxiety is associated with negative interpretation bias when resolving valence ambiguity of surprised faces. To further isolate the neuro-cognitive mechanism, we presented angry, happy, and surprised faces at broad spatial frequency (BSF), high spatial frequency (HSF), and low spatial frequency (LSF) and asked participants to determine the valence of each face. High trait anxiety was associated with more negative interpretations of BSF (i.e., intact) surprised faces. However, the modulation of trait anxiety on the negative interpretation of surprised faces disappeared at HSF and LSF. The current study provides evidence that trait anxiety modulates negative interpretations of BSF surprised faces. However, the negative interpretation of LSF surprised faces appears to be a robust default response that occurs regardless of individual differences in trait anxiety.