What’s in a gaze, what’s in a face?: The direct gaze effect can be modulated by emotion expression

Gaze direction and emotion expression are salient facial features that facilitate social interactions. Previous studies addressed how gaze direction influences the evaluation and recognition of emotion expressions, but few have tested how emotion expression influences attentional processing of direct versus averted gaze faces. The present study examined whether the prioritization of direct gaze (toward the observer) relative to averted gaze (away from the observer) is modulated by the emotional expression of the observed face. Participants identified targets presented on the forehead of one of four faces in a 2 × 2 design (gaze direction: direct/averted; motion: sudden/static). Emotion expressions of the faces (neutral, angry, fearful, happy, disgusted) differed across participants. Direct gaze effects emerged—response times were shorter for targets on direct gaze than on averted gaze faces. This direct gaze effect was enhanced in angry faces (approach-oriented) and reduced in fearful faces (avoidance-oriented). “Weaker” approach- and avoidance-oriented expressions (happy and disgusted) did not modulate the direct gaze effect. These findings suggest that the context of facial emotion expressions influences attentional processing. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)