Published: 22 July 2011 at 16:35
Anglia Ruskin psychologist studies how mood affects how you see others
People who are sad or depressed really do avoid eye contact, according to new research by a psychologist at Anglia Ruskin University.
Dr Peter Hills, Lecturer in Psychology at Anglia Ruskin, carried out experiments to discover how mood affects the way individuals look at other people.
The research – co-authored by Dr Michael Lewis of Cardiff University – is published in the latest edition of the British Journal of Psychology and shows that happy people are more likely to detect changes in eyes than participants who are unhappy.
One suggestion Dr Hills has proposed is that avoiding eye contact may actually increase depression amongst already unhappy individuals, as it can lead to isolation.
Dr Hills and Dr Lewis constructed 12 “prototype faces” using a computer-based face-reconstruction system. The software allowed a set of features to be selected, such as head shape, hairstyle, eyes, eyebrows, nose, mouth, and chin shape. These features were then enlarged, shrunk, or moved in relation to the other features.
To induce mood, participants performed an autobiographical memory task while listening to specific pieces of music, which were selected having been tested on psychology undergraduates in a previous study.Mozart Requiem was played to induce a sad condition, The A-Team music for a happy condition, and the theme from The Hunt for Red October for a neutral condition.