Face Gender Influences the Looking Preference for Smiling Expressions in 3.5-Month-Old Human Infants
Date
2015-06-11
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Publisher
PLOS (Public Library of Science)
Abstract
Young infants are typically thought to prefer looking at smiling expressions. Although some
accounts suggest that the preference is automatic and universal, we hypothesized that it is
not rigid and may be influenced by other face dimensions, most notably the face’s gender.
Infants are sensitive to the gender of faces; for example, 3-month-olds raised by female
caregivers typically prefer female over male faces. We presented neutral versus smiling
pairs of faces from the same female or male individuals to 3.5-month-old infants (n = 25),
controlling for low-level cues. Infants looked longer to the smiling face when faces were female
but longer to the neutral face when faces were male, i.e., there was an effect of face
gender on the looking preference for smiling. The results indicate that a preference for smiling
in 3.5-month-olds is limited to female faces, possibly reflective of differential experience
with male and female faces.
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Citation
Bayet L, Quinn PC, Tanaka JW, Lee K, Gentaz É, Pascalis O (2015) Face Gender Influences the Looking Preference for Smiling Expressions in 3.5-Month-Old Human Infants. PLoS ONE 10(6): e0129812. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0129812