Sex differences in recognition of facial expressions depending on facial coverage with masks

Dosadašnja istraživanja spolnih razlika u prepoznavanju emocija s djelomično prekrivenih lica nisu dala jednoznačne rezultate. Cilj istraživanja bio je ispitati spolne razlike u prepoznavanju emocija iz facijalnih ekspresija lica s ili bez kirurške maske. Ovim su istraživanjem obrađeni rezultati 768 sudionika (387 žena i 381 muškaraca), prosječne dobi 40 godina (SD = 12.5), koji su u sklopu šireg istraživanja izvršavali zadatak procjenjivanja emocija. Crno-bijele fotografije 7 ljudskih lica (4 ženska i 3 muška), koje izražavaju po jednu od osnovnih emocija i neutralnu ekspresiju, preuzete su iz baze afektivnih slika lica (KDEF). Pretpostavili smo da će sudionici biti točniji u prepoznavanju emocija na licima koja nisu prekrivena maskom od lica prekrivenih maskom, te kako će žene, u situaciji lica prekrivenih s maskom, biti bolje u prepoznavanju facijalnih ekspresije od muškaraca. Potvrđeno je kako su sudionici oba spola bolji u prepoznavanju emocija iz facijalnih ekspresija na licima bez maske, nego s maskom. Žene su bile uspješnije u prepoznavanju emocija na licima prekrivenim maskom dok te razlike nije bilo na neprekrivenim licima. Ovi nalazi posebno su važni u okruženjima u kojima su točno prepoznavanje emocija i ostvarivanje odnosa neophodni (zdravstveni sektor).Previous studies of sex differences in emotion recognition from partially occluded faces have shown ambiguous results. The aim of this study was to examine sex differences in emotion recognition from facial expressions depending on the face coverage in stimuli photographs. This study is based on the results of 768 participants (387 women and 381 men; 40 years old in average (SD = 12.5), which took part in a broader study of facial expression recognition. Black and white photographs of 7 human faces (4 woman and 3 man) expressing one of the basic emotions and a neutral expression were taken from an emotional faces database (KDEF). We hypothesized that participants would recognize emotions more accurately in non-masked faces than in masked faces. Furthermore, we hypothesized women will be more accurate in recognizing emotions on masked photographs than men. Participants recognized emotions from facial expressions more accurately in non-masked faces than in masked faces. Women were more accurate than men in recognizing emotions from facial expressions in masked faces, while there was no difference in non-masked faces. These findings are especially relevant in settings where correct emotion recognition and establishing relationships is essential (health sector)