Angle of regard: The effect of vertical viewing angle on the perception of facial expressions

Abstract

Two studies were conducted using video records of real faces and three-dimensional schematic faces to investigate the perceptual distortions introduced by viewing faces at a vertical angle and their influence on the attribution of emotional expressions and attitudes. The results indicate that faces seen from below were perceived as more positive and less negative, while faces seen from above appeared more negative and less positive. This effect seems to be moderated by interindividual differences in facial morphology, and perhaps by differences in dynamic aspects of expressions. The second study investigated the respective contribution of the upper half and the lower half of the face to the perceptual distortion found. In general, judges based their attributions of emotional state more on cues from the upper half of the face. © 1994 Human Sciences Press, Inc.