Feeling Bad and Looking Worse: Negative Affect Is Associated with Reduced Perceptions of Face-Healthiness

Abstract

Some people perceive themselves to look more, or less attractive than they are in reality. We investigated the role of emotions in enhancement and derogation effects; specifically, whether the propensity to experience positive and negative emotions affects how healthy we perceive our own face to look and how we judge ourselves against others. A psychophysical method was used to measure healthiness of self-image and social comparisons of healthiness. Participants who self-reported high positive (N = 20) or negative affectivity (N = 20) judged themselves against healthy (red-tinged) and unhealthy looking (green-tinged) versions of their own and stranger’s faces. An adaptive staircase procedure was used to measure perceptual thresholds. Participants high in positive affectivity were un-biased in their face health judgement. Participants high in negative affectivity on the other hand, judged themselves as equivalent to less healthy looking versions of their own face and a stranger’s face. Affective traits modulated self-image and social comparisons of healthiness. Face health judgement was also related to physical symptom perception and self-esteem; high physical symptom reports were associated a less healthy self-image and high self-reported (but not implicit) self-esteem was associated with more favourable social comparisons of healthiness. Subject to further validation, our novel face health judgement task could have utility as a perceptual measure of well-being. We are currently investigating whether face health judgement is sensitive to laboratory manipulations of mood.

I feel bad and look worse than you: Social comparisons moderate the effect of mood on face health judgement

“…In Mirams et al's (2014) study, participants also completed a version of the face health judgement task in which they judged how they felt compared to healthy and unhealthy looking versions of a stranger, who was matched in age, gender and initial facial redness (i.e., 'how do I feel compared to this version of a stranger's face?'). Participants who self-reported high levels of NA judged themselves as equivalent to less healthy looking versions of a stranger's face and high self-esteem was associated with more favourable social comparisons of health (Mirams et al, 2014). This finding is in line with previous evidence suggesting that mood might affect social comparisons (for a review see Wheeler & Miyake, 1992).…”

“…For example , Epley and Whitchurch (2008) found that healthy people, particularly those with high self-esteem, perceive themselves to look more attractive than they do in reality. Mirams et al (2014) also found that people can be biased in their perceptions of self-healthiness; compared to happy participants, those with dispositional tendencies to experience negative moods judged themselves as equivalent to less healthy looking versions of their own and another person's face. The purpose of the current study was to investigate whether experimentally induced, transient mood also moderates face health judgement and whether performing mood congruent social comparisons exacerbates the effect of mood on self-evaluations of healthiness.…”

“…Psychophysical methods were used to measure perceptual thresholds (i.e., to identify the face version that approximated participants' self-image). Compared to participants who self-reported high levels of PA, participants who self-reported high levels of NA, judged themselves as equivalent to greener, unhealthy looking face versions, suggesting that the saw themselves as looking less healthy (Mirams, et al, 2014). This could lead unhappy participants to experience further NA, forming a vicious cycle (Mirams et al, 2014).…”

“…Previously, Mirams et al (2014) investigated whether appearance-based enhancement effects also generalise to judgements of healthiness and whether dispositional tendencies to experience positive versus negative emotion moderate face health judgement. Other studies have found that unhappy participants lack enhancement effects, or even perceive themselves to look worse than they do in reality.…”

“…Individuals with symptoms of body dysmorphia, for example, have shown reduced perceptions of self-attractiveness (Clerkin & Teachman, 2008). Mirams et al (2014) developed a novel face health judgement task intended to measure 'healthiness of self-image' that is, whether people perceive themselves to look more or less healthy than they do in reality. Photographs of the participant's face were altered to look more/less healthy, by adding/subtracting the amount of redness in the skin.…”