Feeling bad and looking worse: negative affect is associated with reduced perceptions of face-healthiness

Abstract

Some people perceive themselves to look more, or less attractive than they are in reality. We investigated the role of emotions in enhancement and derogation effects; specifically, whether the propensity to experience positive and negative emotions affects how healthy we perceive our own face to look and how we judge ourselves against others. A psychophysical method was used to measure healthiness of self-image and social comparisons of healthiness. Participants who self-reported high positive (N = 20) or negative affectivity (N = 20) judged themselves against healthy (red-tinged) and unhealthy looking (green-tinged) versions of their own and stranger's faces. An adaptive staircase procedure was used to measure perceptual thresholds. Participants high in positive affectivity were un-biased in their face health judgement. Participants high in negative affectivity on the other hand, judged themselves as equivalent to less healthy looking versions of their own face and a stranger's face. Affective traits modulated self-image and social comparisons of healthiness. Face health judgement was also related to physical symptom perception and self-esteem; high physical symptom reports were associated a less healthy self-image and high self-reported (but not implicit) self-esteem was associated with more favourable social comparisons of healthiness. Subject to further validation, our novel face health judgement task could have utility as a perceptual measure of well-being. We are currently investigating whether face health judgement is sensitive to laboratory manipulations of mood.

Figure 1. Average 50% thresholds on the self and stranger face health judgement task.

The x-axis shows 50% thresholds ranging from −12 (very green) to 12 (very red). In both versions of the task, participants indicated how they judged themselves in comparison either to different versions of their own face or to different versions of a stranger’s face. Self 50% thresholds indicate how participants perceived themselves. Stranger 50% thresholds indicate how participants judged themselves in comparison to the stranger. The negative affect group (unhappy participants, left hand side) had significantly lower 50% thresholds on both versions of the face health judgement task compared to the positive affect group (happy participants, right hand side). That is, the negative affect group judged themselves as equivalent to greener, less healthy looking versions of their own and a stranger’s face. Error bars reflect ±1 standard error of the mean.

Figure 2. Correlations between scores on the questionnaire measures and 50% thresholds on each version of the face health judgement task.

A: Illustrates the negative relationship between 50% thresholds on the self version of the task and negative affect scale scores. B: Illustrates the negative relationship between 50% thresholds on the self version of the task and PHQ-15 scores. As state and trait PHQ-15 scores were strongly correlated (r = .84, p<.001), aggregate scores were calculated for the purposes of illustration. C and D: Illustrate the negative relationship between 50% thresholds on the stranger version of the task and negative affect scale scores and PHQ-15 scores. Higher negative affect and physical symptom reports were associated with lower 50% thresholds on both versions of the task (less healthy self-image/unfavourable social comparisons). E: Shows the significant positive relationship between stranger face health judgement and self-esteem; high self-esteem was associated with more favourable social comparisons.