Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2009 Sep;24(3):542-9.
doi: 10.1037/a0016105.

The influence of facial masking and sex on older adults' impressions of individuals with Parkinson's disease

Amanda R Hemmesch  1 , Linda Tickle-Degnen, Leslie A Zebrowitz
Affiliations

The influence of facial masking and sex on older adults' impressions of individuals with Parkinson's disease

Amanda R Hemmesch et al. Psychol Aging. 2009 Sep.

Abstract

Parkinson's disease (PD) involves facial masking, which may impair social interaction. Older adult observers who viewed segments of videotaped interviews of individuals with PD expressed less interest in relationships with women with higher masking and judged them as less supportive. Masking did not affect ratings of men in these domains, possibly because higher masking violates gender norms for expressivity in women but not in men. Observers formed less accurate ratings of the social supportiveness and social strain of women than men, and higher masking decreased accuracy for ratings of strain. Results suggest that some of the problems with social relationships in PD may be due to inaccurate impressions and reduced desire to interact with individuals with higher masking, especially women.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Facial masking by target sex interaction for observers’ interest in beginning a new relationship with targets with PD.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Facial masking by target sex interaction for observers’ perceptions of how supportive targets with PD would be.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Facial masking by target sex interaction for observers’ perceptions of how straining targets with PD would be.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Facial masking by observer sex interaction for accuracy of observers’ perceptions of how supportive targets with PD would be.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Ambady N, LaPlante D, Johnson E. Thin-slice judgments as a measure of interpersonal sensitivity. In: Hall JA, Bernieri FJ, editors. Interpersonal sensitivity: Theory and measurement. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates; 2001. pp. 89–101.
    1. Ambady N, Rosenthal R. Thin slices of expressive behavior as predictors of interpersonal consequences: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin. 1992;111:256–274.
    1. Antonucci TC, Jackson JS. The role of reciprocity in social support. In: Sarason BR, Sarason IG, Pierce GR, editors. Social support: An interactional view. New York: John Wiley & Sons; 1990. pp. 173–198.
    1. Becker DV, Kenrick DT, Neuberg SL, Blackwell KC, Smith DM. The confounded nature of angry men and happy women. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 2007;92:179–190. - PubMed
    1. Blieszner R. A lifetime of caring: Dimensions and dynamics in late-life close relationships. Personal Relationships. 2006;13:1–18.

Publication types