Several studies have demonstrated that women show a greater interest for social information and empathic attitude than men. This article reviews studies on sex differences in the brain, with particular reference to how males and females process faces and facial expressions, social interactions, pain of others, infant faces, faces in things (pareidolia phenomenon), opposite-sex faces, humans vs. landscapes, incongruent behavior, motor actions, biological motion, erotic pictures, and emotional information. Sex differences in oxytocin-based attachment response and emotional memory are also mentioned. In addition, we investigated how 400 different human faces were evaluated for arousal and valence dimensions by a group of healthy male and female University students. Stimuli were carefully balanced for sensory and perceptual characteristics, age, facial expression, and sex. As a whole, women judged all human faces as more positive and more arousing than men. Furthermore, they showed a preference for the faces of children and the elderly in the arousal evaluation. Regardless of face aesthetics, age, or facial expression, women rated human faces higher than men. The preference for opposite- vs. same-sex faces strongly interacted with facial age. Overall, both women and men exhibited differences in facial processing that could be interpreted in the light of evolutionary psychobiology.

Proverbio, A. (2017). Sex differences in social cognition: The case of face processing. JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE RESEARCH, 95(1-2), 222-234 [10.1002/jnr.23817].

Sex differences in social cognition: The case of face processing

PROVERBIO, ALICE MADO
Primo
2017

Abstract

Several studies have demonstrated that women show a greater interest for social information and empathic attitude than men. This article reviews studies on sex differences in the brain, with particular reference to how males and females process faces and facial expressions, social interactions, pain of others, infant faces, faces in things (pareidolia phenomenon), opposite-sex faces, humans vs. landscapes, incongruent behavior, motor actions, biological motion, erotic pictures, and emotional information. Sex differences in oxytocin-based attachment response and emotional memory are also mentioned. In addition, we investigated how 400 different human faces were evaluated for arousal and valence dimensions by a group of healthy male and female University students. Stimuli were carefully balanced for sensory and perceptual characteristics, age, facial expression, and sex. As a whole, women judged all human faces as more positive and more arousing than men. Furthermore, they showed a preference for the faces of children and the elderly in the arousal evaluation. Regardless of face aesthetics, age, or facial expression, women rated human faces higher than men. The preference for opposite- vs. same-sex faces strongly interacted with facial age. Overall, both women and men exhibited differences in facial processing that could be interpreted in the light of evolutionary psychobiology.
Articolo in rivista - Articolo scientifico
Cognitive Neuroscience; Sex Differences; Brain; Face Processing; Empathy
English
feb-2017
2017
95
1-2
222
234
none
Proverbio, A. (2017). Sex differences in social cognition: The case of face processing. JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE RESEARCH, 95(1-2), 222-234 [10.1002/jnr.23817].
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/10281/134967
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