| Time to turn the other cheek? The influence of left and right poses on perceptions of academic specialisation. | |
| | |
MedLine Citation:
|
PMID: 19760533 Owner: NLM Status: In-Process |
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
|
The human face expresses emotion asymmetrically. Whereas the left cheek is more emotionally expressive, the right cheek appears more impassive, hence the appropriate cheek to put forward depends on the circumstance. Nicholls, Clode, Wood, and Wood (1999, Proceedings of the Royal Society (Section B), 266, 1517-1522) demonstrated that people posing for family portraits offer the left cheek, whereas those posing as a Royal Society scientist favour the right. Given that the stereotypical representations of members of different academic disciplines differ markedly in their perceived openness and emotionality (e.g., "serious" scientist vs. "creative" writer), we reasoned that people may use cheek as a cue when determining a model's area of academic interest. Two hundred and nine participants (M=90, F=119) viewed pairs of left and right cheek poses, and made a forced-choice decision indicating which image depicted a Chemistry, Psychology or English student. Half the images were mirror-reversed to control for perceptual and aesthetic biases. Consistent with prediction, participants were more likely to select left cheek images for English students, and right cheek images for Chemistry students, irrespective of image orientation. The results confirm that determining the best cheek to put forward depends on your academic expertise: an impassive right cheek suggests hard science, whereas an emotive left cheek implies the arts. Psychology produced no left or right bias, consistent with its position as a discipline perpetually straddling the boundary between art and science. |
| | |
Authors:
|
Annukka K Lindell; Nicola J Savill |
Related Documents
:
|
20507693 - Predicting beauty: fractal dimension and visual complexity in art. 8115243 - Mirror reversals: real and perceived. 19696263 - Low-dose mdct urography: feasibility study of low-tube-voltage technique and adaptive n... |
Publication Detail:
|
Type: Journal Article Date: 2009-09-16 |
Journal Detail:
|
Title: Laterality Volume: 15 ISSN: 1464-0678 ISO Abbreviation: Laterality Publication Date: 2010 Nov |
Date Detail:
|
Created Date: 2010-11-08 Completed Date: - Revised Date: - |
Medline Journal Info:
|
Nlm Unique ID: 9609064 Medline TA: Laterality Country: England |
Other Details:
|
Languages: eng Pagination: 639-50 Citation Subset: IM |
Affiliation:
|
School of Psychological Science, La Trobe University, Australia. a.lindell@latrobe.edu.au |
Export Citation:
|
APA/MLA Format Download EndNote Download BibTex |
| MeSH Terms | |
Descriptor/Qualifier:
|
|
From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine
Previous Document: A Left Handed Compliment: A newly discovered, early nineteenth-century lithograph by John Lewis Mark...
Next Document: Motor simulation in verbal knowledge acquisition.