Visual and Written Context Effects on Emotional Perception
Location
FA-203
Department
Psychology
Abstract
This study will examine the effects of visual and written context on the perception of emotion. Previous studies have found that visual context may have impacted one’s emotional perception when processing a scene or image. Specifically, it has been found that those who openly presented their body modifications such as tattoos experienced detrimental effects such as discrimination. Written descriptions have been shown to alter an individual’s initial interpretation and “snap judgments.” In previous studies regarding written contexts, different types of background contexts have been manipulated to see how significant they are in the subject’s emotional perception of the individual presented to them. Although past research has touched upon these two variables separately, there has not been research exploring these two variables applied in an experiment in tandem. The objective of this study is to find a correlation between how one emotionally processes body modifications and to explore the influence of written context. The importance of this study includes a deep dive into stereotyping and the expectancy effect. Facial tattoos and contextual backgrounds of individuals can impact how society processes their identity and how they are schematically categorized. The methodology that this study used consists of presenting subjects with images of individuals who do or do not possess a tattoo on their faces; along with written descriptions (ie. positive, negative, neutral). The subject will then be asked a series of questions during and after the study. The questions will be answered in the form of a Likert scale. The questions will assess the subjects’ emotions regarding approachability, trustworthiness, and willingness to ask for assistance; the positive and negative nature of the subjects’ emotions will be assessed as well. We expect to find that the insertion of visual stimuli in the form of facial tattoos will result in negative emotional perceptions. A positive description will render more positive attitudes while negative descriptions will result in negative attitudes. Images that are void of context will also be introduced to assess results solely based on the face presented.
Faculty Sponsor
Linda Rueckert, Northeastern Illinois University
Visual and Written Context Effects on Emotional Perception
FA-203
This study will examine the effects of visual and written context on the perception of emotion. Previous studies have found that visual context may have impacted one’s emotional perception when processing a scene or image. Specifically, it has been found that those who openly presented their body modifications such as tattoos experienced detrimental effects such as discrimination. Written descriptions have been shown to alter an individual’s initial interpretation and “snap judgments.” In previous studies regarding written contexts, different types of background contexts have been manipulated to see how significant they are in the subject’s emotional perception of the individual presented to them. Although past research has touched upon these two variables separately, there has not been research exploring these two variables applied in an experiment in tandem. The objective of this study is to find a correlation between how one emotionally processes body modifications and to explore the influence of written context. The importance of this study includes a deep dive into stereotyping and the expectancy effect. Facial tattoos and contextual backgrounds of individuals can impact how society processes their identity and how they are schematically categorized. The methodology that this study used consists of presenting subjects with images of individuals who do or do not possess a tattoo on their faces; along with written descriptions (ie. positive, negative, neutral). The subject will then be asked a series of questions during and after the study. The questions will be answered in the form of a Likert scale. The questions will assess the subjects’ emotions regarding approachability, trustworthiness, and willingness to ask for assistance; the positive and negative nature of the subjects’ emotions will be assessed as well. We expect to find that the insertion of visual stimuli in the form of facial tattoos will result in negative emotional perceptions. A positive description will render more positive attitudes while negative descriptions will result in negative attitudes. Images that are void of context will also be introduced to assess results solely based on the face presented.