Effects of Color Perception and Enacted Avoidance Behavior on Intellectual Task Performance in an Achievement Context

Previous research has established performance impairment in intellectual tasks as a consequence of brief exposure to the color red. Furthermore, previous research has established a mediational process in which avoidance-grounded processes mediate the effect of color perception on intellectual performance. A separate line of research has shown that enacting (i.e., physically engaging in) avoidance behavior elicits avoidance processes in a similar fashion as color. The present research focused on further documenting the relationship between color perception, intellectual performance, and avoidance motivation. Participants were exposed to a color (i.e., red, green, or gray) manipulation and subsequently engaged in an anagram task. Anagrams are often used as a measure of intellectual performance. Anagram tasks require a participant to find a correct solution word from a scrambled set of letters. Additionally, a variable of enacted avoidance behavior (EAB) was included to further assess the color’s role as an avoidance cue. Results indicated that both red and EAB influenced anagram performance relative to other colors. However, potential artifacts were discovered in the anagram task. The discussion concludes with suggestions for anagram testing and ways to pursue similar studies in the future

Women’s facial redness increases their perceived attractiveness : mediation through perceived healthiness

In the present research, we investigated whether the red-attraction relation that has been observed for men viewing women may also be observed with regard to women’s facial redness. We manipulated facial redness by slightly increasing or decreasing the redness on the faces of baseline pictures of target women, and then had men judge the attractiveness of the women. We also examined healthiness perceptions as a mediator of the redness-attraction relation, along with several other candidate mediator variables. A series of experiments showed that increased redness led to increased ratings of attractiveness, and decreased redness led to decreased ratings of attractiveness. Perceived healthiness was documented as a mediator of the influence of female facial redness on male perceptions of attractiveness, and this mediation was independent of other candidate mediator variables. The findings highlight the importance of attending to facial coloration as an attraction-relevant cue and point to interesting areas for subsequent research.PostprintPeer reviewe

Facial redness increases men’s perceived healthiness and attractiveness

Past research has shown that peripheral and facial redness influences perceptions of attractiveness for men viewing women. The current research investigated whether a parallel effect is present when women rate men with varying facial redness. In four experiments, women judged the attractiveness of men’s faces, which were presented with varying degrees of redness. We also examined perceived healthiness and other candidate variables as mediators of the red attractiveness effect. The results show that facial redness positively influences ratings of men’s attractiveness. Additionally, perceived healthiness was documented as a mediator of this effect, independent of other potential mediator variables. The current research emphasizes facial coloration as an important feature of social judgments.PostprintPeer reviewe

Emotion-color associations in the context of the face

Facial expressions of emotion contain important information that is perceived and used by observers to understand others’ emotional state. While there has been considerable research into perceptions of facial musculature and emotion, less work has been conducted to understand perceptions of facial coloration and emotion. The current research examined emotion-color associations in the context of the face. Across four experiments, participants were asked to manipulate the color of face, or shape, stimuli along two color axes (i.e., red-green, yellow-blue) for six target emotions (i.e., anger, disgust, fear, happiness, sadness, surprise). The results yielded a pattern that is consistent with physiological and psychological models of emotion.PostprintPeer reviewe

Awe Arises in Reaction to Exceeded Rather Than Disconfirmed Expectancies

Awe is a fascinating emotion, associated with positive consequences such as greater prosociality, generosity, and epistemic openness. Unfortunately, in spite of the weighty consequences of awe, the exact way in which it arises, and what it entails, is still a puzzle. Particularly puzzling is the question of whether awe is the result of expectancy violation. While awe is thought to arise in reaction to expectancy-violating objects or events, classical expectancy violations (e.g., a red queen of spades playing card) do not tend to cause awe. To shed light on this problem, we distinguished two types of expectancy violations—those that disconfirm and those that exceed one’s expectancies—and we investigated whether awe is more likely to arise in reaction to one versus the other. We also looked at what appraisals constitute and are most important to the awe experience and how they structurally interact. To do this, we utilized network analysis and mapped out the network structure of appraisals linked to awe and to expectancy violations. Across two experimental studies (N = 823), we demonstrated that awe arises in reaction to exceeded (rather than disconfirmed) expectancies and that appraisals linked to exceeded expectancies (vastness and uniqueness) are central to awe, while appraisals linked to disconfirmed expectancies (uncertainty and inconsistency) are peripheral to the awe experience.</p

Social Comparison Information, Performance Expectancy, and Performance Goal Adoption

The present research comprised two experiments (Ns = 792 and 1056) focused on linking social comparison information to performance goal adoption via performance expectancy. In Experiment 1, participants were randomly assigned to receive positive or negative information regarding how they had performed on a novel ability task compared to another person. They were then told that this other person would be their opponent during a subsequent performance period. Experiment 1 revealed that positive relative to negative social comparison information led to greater performance-approach goal adoption, and this effect was mediated by participants’ performance expectancy. Social comparison information did not affect performance-avoidance goal adoption, but performance expectancy negatively predicted these goals. Experiment 2 extended Experiment 1 by including a no information control group. The findings represent a much needed integration of the upward-downward social comparison and approach-avoidance achievement goal literatures