The effect of interpersonal dependency on judgment of gaze direction

Abstract

This study investigated the effect of interpersonal dependency on judgments of gaze direction of individuals with different facial expressions. Based on interpersonal dependency scores, 46 participants were divided into two groups (high interpersonal dependency and low interpersonal dependency). Participants judged the gaze direction of photographs of faces with angry, neutral or happy expressions. Relative to the low interpersonal dependency group, the high interpersonal dependency group was more accurate in the judgments of gaze direction. This tendency was more salient for the happy and neutral expressions than for the angry expressions. Since people with high interpersonal dependency are highly motivated to seek support from others, this result suggests that they are sensitive to signals with pro-social information such as the gaze direction of others with positive attitudes.