The action unit imposter : head position influences social perceptions by changing the appearance of the face
department or school: Arts, Faculty of
department or school: Psychology, Department of
data provider: DSpace
degree campus: UBCV
creator: Witkower, Zachary
issued: 2021-08-23T17:32:16Z
issued: 2021
related degree: Doctor of Philosophy - PhD
degree grantor: University of British Columbia
description: Facial structure and facial expressions play a crucial role in the communication of social information, but faces are rarely perceived in isolation. Instead, observers view faces as they rest upon their physical foundation: the head. Here, I argue that head position plays a critical role in face perception by causing the appearance of the eyebrows to change— paralleling the consequences of facial expressions— without using facial musculature. As a result, although tilting the head does not involve the activation of facial muscles, it may function as an imposter of facial muscle action by changing the appearance of the face. In the present dissertation, I test and support this broad account, and demonstrate its widespread generalizability, across 16 studies. First, in Chapter 2, I (a) provide evidence that a downwards head tilt increases perceptions of dominance, (b) demonstrate that this effect occurs by changing the apparent V-shape of the eyebrows, in particular, and (c) rule out the possibility that any of the other previously proposed mechanisms are viable explanations for observed effects. In Chapter 3, I test whether the AU imposter mechanism is likely to be a universal feature of human visual cognition, by assessing its impact on social perceptions among the Mayangna – members of an unindustrialized small-scale traditional society who have minimal exposure to North American culture. In Chapters 4 and 5 I demonstrate that the AU imposter mechanism systematically influences social perceptions of emotionally expressive faces, alongside neutral faces – including perceptions formed from expressions of anger (Chapter 4) and happiness (Chapter 5). Finally, in Chapter 6 I review the existing body of evidence in support of the AU imposter mechanism, outline theoretical and applied implications of the AU imposter, and provide avenues for future inquiry. Together, these six chapters outline how and why the head should be considered a platform for universally communicati…
aggregated CHO: https://circle.library.ubc.ca/rest/handle/2429/79375
note: The Action Unit Imposter: Head position influences social perceptions by changing the appearance of the face by Zachary Witkower B.A., Gettysburg College, 2015 M.A., University of British Columbia, 2017 A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE AND POSTDOCTORAL STUDIES (Psychology) THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (Vancouver) August 2021 © Zachary Witkower, 2021 ii The following individuals certify that they have read, and recommend to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies for acceptance, the dissertation entitled: The Action Unit Imposter: Head position influences social perceptions by changing the appearance of the face submitted by Zachary Witkower in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology Examining Committee: Jessica Tracy, Professor, Department of Psychology, UBC Supervisor Kristin Laurin, Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, UBC Supervisory Committee Member Alan Kingstone, Professor, Department of Psychology, UBC Supervisory Committee Member Toni Schmader, Professor, Department of Psychology, UBC University Examiner Karl Aquino, Professor, Sauder School of Business, UBC University Examiner Reginald Adams Jr., Professor, Department of Psychology, Penn State University External Examiner iii Abstract Facial structure and facial expressions play a crucial role in the communication of social information, but faces are rarely perceived in isolation. Instead, observers view faces as they rest upon their physical foundation: the head. Here, I argue that head position plays a critical role in face perception by causing the appearance of the eyebrows to change— paralleling the consequences of facial expressions— without using facial musculature. As a result, although tilting the head does not involve the activation of facial muscles, it may function as an imposter of facial muscle action by changing the …
has type: Thesis/Dissertation
date issued: 2021-11
is shown at: 10.14288/1.0401502
language: eng
degree discipline: Psychology
provider: Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
publisher: University of British Columbia
rights: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
rights URI: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
scholar level: Graduate
contributor: Tracy, Jessica L.
type: Text
identifier URI: http://hdl.handle.net/2429/79375