TY - JOUR
T1 - Individual differences in pupil dilation to others’ emotional and neutral eyes with varying pupil sizes
AU - Fawcett, Christine
AU - Nordenswan, Elisabeth
AU - Yrttiaho, Santeri
AU - Häikiö, Tuomo
AU - Korja, Riikka
AU - Karlsson, Linnea
AU - Karlsson, Hasse
AU - Kataja, Eeva Leena
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by Riksbankens Jubileumsfond (#P16-0866:1); Jenny and Antti Wihuri Foundation; Finnish Brain Association; Strategic Research Council; Kone Foundation; Victoria Foundation; Agneta and Carl-Erik Olin Foundation; Academy of Finland (#308252; #325292; #321424); Emil Aaltonen Foundation; and the Signe and Ane Gyllenberg Foundation.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
PY - 2022
Y1 - 2022
N2 - Sensitivity to others’ emotional signals is an important factor for social interaction. While many studies of emotional reactivity focus on facial emotional expressions, signals such as pupil dilation which can indicate arousal, may also affect observers. For example, observers’ pupils dilate when viewing someone with dilated pupils, so-called pupillary contagion. Yet it is unclear how pupil size and emotional expression interact as signals. Further, examining individual differences in emotional reactivity to others can shed light on its mechanisms and potential outcomes. In the current study, adults’ (N = 453) pupil size was assessed while they viewed images of the eye region of individuals varying in emotional expression (neutral, happy, sad, fearful, angry) and pupil size (large, medium, small). Participants showed pupillary contagion regardless of the emotional expression. Individual differences in demographics (gender, age, socioeconomic status) and psychosocial factors (anxiety, depression, sleep problems) were also examined, yet the only factor related to pupillary contagion was socioeconomic status, with higher socioeconomic status predicting less pupillary contagion for emotionally-neutral stimuli. The results suggest that while pupillary contagion is a robust phenomenon, it can vary meaningfully across individuals.
AB - Sensitivity to others’ emotional signals is an important factor for social interaction. While many studies of emotional reactivity focus on facial emotional expressions, signals such as pupil dilation which can indicate arousal, may also affect observers. For example, observers’ pupils dilate when viewing someone with dilated pupils, so-called pupillary contagion. Yet it is unclear how pupil size and emotional expression interact as signals. Further, examining individual differences in emotional reactivity to others can shed light on its mechanisms and potential outcomes. In the current study, adults’ (N = 453) pupil size was assessed while they viewed images of the eye region of individuals varying in emotional expression (neutral, happy, sad, fearful, angry) and pupil size (large, medium, small). Participants showed pupillary contagion regardless of the emotional expression. Individual differences in demographics (gender, age, socioeconomic status) and psychosocial factors (anxiety, depression, sleep problems) were also examined, yet the only factor related to pupillary contagion was socioeconomic status, with higher socioeconomic status predicting less pupillary contagion for emotionally-neutral stimuli. The results suggest that while pupillary contagion is a robust phenomenon, it can vary meaningfully across individuals.
KW - emotional expression
KW - emotional reactivity
KW - Pupil dilation
KW - socioeconomic status
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85130218310&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/02699931.2022.2073973
DO - 10.1080/02699931.2022.2073973
M3 - Article
C2 - 35536560
AN - SCOPUS:85130218310
SN - 0269-9931
VL - 36
SP - 928
EP - 942
JO - Cognition and Emotion
JF - Cognition and Emotion
IS - 5
ER -