Configurational relations of a face as a source of information about personality

The possibilities of obtaining information about the identity of a third party were studied in different ways of depicting a face. The results of two series of experiments were compared, in which the same configuration relations were included in the context of either a schematic face made up of abstract geometric figures or photographic portraits of specific people. Stimulus material was based on the figures of E. Brunswick (1956), demonstrating the dependence of induced expressions (joy/gust) on the spatial organization of the face. Assessment of individual psychological features of the sitter and self-assessment of observers were performed using the Personal Differential method. As a result of the analysis the general regularities of perception of a person in the created conditions are revealed: polarization of estimations of features and their asymmetry defined by impressions about the state of modelers — real or imaginary. Two nonspecific phenomena of interpersonal perception related to transformations of the configuration relations of the face have been revealed: (1) inversion of the attractiveness of the person shown in the photo, and (2) doubling of the personality of the virtual sitter. It is shown that the influence of the observer’s self-esteem on the modeler’s assessment depends both on the type of the face image and on the direction of configuration transformations. The obtained results are interpreted in terms of the dynamics of constellation of features, the mechanism of super generation of emotional manifestations and halo-effect of attractiveness. The methodology of general psychological research of interpersonal perception based on the variation of configuration relations of the face is substantiated.

1. Bazhin E.F., Etkind A.M. Lichnostnyj differencial (Metodicheskie rekomendacii). L.: Izdatel’stvo Leningradskogo nauchno-issledovatel’skogo psiho-nevrologicheskogo instituta im. V.M. Bekhtereva. 1983.
2. Barabanshchikov V.A. Vospriyatie vyrazhenij lica. M.: Institut psihologii RAN, 2009.
3. Barabanshchikov V.A. Ekspressii lica i ih vospriyatie. M.: Izd-vo «Institut psihologii RAN», 2012.
4. Barabanshchikov V.A. Dinamika vospriyatiya vyrazhenij lica. M.: Kogito-Centr. 2016.
5. Barabanshchikov V.A. (otv. red.) Kognitivnye mekhanizmy neverbal’noj kommunikacii. M.: Kogito- Centr, 2017.
6. Barabanshchikov V.A., Hoze E.G. Konfiguracionnye priznaki ekspressij spokojnogo lica // Eksperimental’naya psihologiya, 2012.T. 5. № 1. S. 45—68.
7. Barabanshchikov V.A., Hoze E.G. Vospriyatie ekspressij lica, obuslovlennyh ego konfiguraciej // Lico cheloveka v nauke, iskusstve i praktike / Pod red. K.I. Anan’evoj, V.A. Barabanshchikova, A.A. Demidova. M.: Kogito-Centr, 2015. S. 159—182.
8. Barabanshchikov V.A., Besprozvannaya I.I, Anan’eva K.I. Ocenka individual’no-psihologicheskih svojstv cheloveka v zaivismosti ot konfiguracionnyh izmenenij ego lica // Rossijskij psihologicheskij zhurnal 2017, nomer 4. P. 49—77.
9. Barabanshchikov V.A., Anan’eva K.I., Besprozvannaya I.I., Hoze E.G. Vliyanie konfiguracionnyh transformacij lica na ocenku emocional’nogo sostoyaniya i individual’no-psihologicheskih chert kommunikanta // Barabanshchikov V.A. (otv. red.) Kognitivnye mekhanizmy neverbal’noj kommunikacii. M.: Kogito-Centr, 2017. S. 215—248.
10. Barabanshchikov V.A., Besprozvannaya I.I. Vizual’naya ocenka lichnosti neznakomogo cheloveka po fotoizobrazheniyu ego lica i samoocenka vosprinimayushchego/Lico cheloveka: poznanie, obshchenie, deyatel’nost’. M.: Kogito-Centr, 2019, P. 163—180.
11. Barabanshchikov V.A., Besprozvannaya I.I. Cledy lichnosti na skhematicheskom izobrazhenii lica// Eksperimental’naya psihologiya, 2019, T. 12, № 2. P. 16—34.
12. Diveev D.A. Rol’ formy lica v vospriyatii individual’no-psihologicheskih harakteristik cheloveka: diss. … kand. psihol. nauk. M.: IPRAN, 2009.
13. Karelin A. Bol’shaya enciklopediya psihologicheskih testov. M.: Eksmo, 2007.
14. Hoze E.G. Vospriyatie inducirovannyh ekspressij lica: diss. … kand. psihol. nauk. M.: IPRAN, 2013.
15. Bartlett J.C., Helm A., Jerger S. Selective attention to inner and outer pails of face: Evidence for holistic and featural processing. Dallas: University of Texas. 2001.
16. Brunswik E. Perception and the representative design of psychological experiments. Berkeley: University of California Press. 1956.
17. Eagly A., Ashmore R.D., MakhijaniM.G., Longo L.C. What is beautiful is good, but...: A meta-analitic review of research on physical attractiveness stereotype // Psychological Bulletin, 1991. Vol. I 10. № 1. P. 109—128.
18. Ekman P., Friesen W. Pictures of facial affect. Palo Alto: Consulting Psychologists’ Press, 1976.
19. Gordon I.E., Zukas М., Chan.J. Responses to schematic faces: a cross-cultural study // Perception and Motor Skills. 1982. Vol. 54. P. 201—202.
20. McKone E., Martini P., Nakayama K. Isolating holistic processing face (and perhaps objects) // Perception of Face, Objects and Scenes / M.A. Peterson, G. Rhodos (Eds.) Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003. P. 92—119.
21. Neth D., Martinez A.M. Emotion perception in emotionless face images suggests a norm-based representation // Journal of Vision, 2009. Vol., № 1, P. 1—11, Article 5. doi:10.1167/9.1.5
22. Neth D., Martinez A.M. A computational shapebased model of anger and sadness justifies a configural representation of faces// Vision Research, 2010. Vol. 50, P. 1693—1711.
23. Palmer S.E. Visual perception and world knowledge: Notes on a model of sensory-cognitive interaction // D. Norman, D. Rumelhart (Eds.), Exploration in cognitions. San Francisco: Freemen, 1975. P. 279—307.
24. Peterson M.A., G. Rhodes (Eds.), Perception of Faces, Objects, and Scenes. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003.
25. Tanaka J.W., Farah M.J. Parts and wholes in face recognition // Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology. 1993. Vol. 46. P. 225—245.
26. Tanaka J.W., Sengco J. Features and their configuration in face recognition // Memory and Cognition. 1997. Vol. 25. P. 583—592.
27. Ulman S.S., Sali S.E. Object Classification Using a Fragment-Based Representation // lecture notes in computer science Berlin. Bologically motivated computer vision (Eds.) Leel etc. B: Shpringer, 2000. P. 73— 87.
28. Zebrowitz L. Reading Faces: Window to the Soul? Boulder: Westview Press, 1997.
29. Zebrowitz L.A. Ecological and social approaches to face perception // The hand-Book of Face Perception / Eds. A.J. Calder. G. Rhodes, J.V. Maxby, М. H. Johnson. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011. P. 31—50.
30. Zebrowitz L.A., Fellous J.M., Mignault A., Andreoletti C. Trait impressions as overgeneralized responses to adaptively significant facial qualities: evidence from connectionist modeling. // Personality and Social Psychology Review. 2003. Vol. 7. P. 194—215.