Sex differences in attention to disgust facial expressions.
Research demonstrates that women experience disgust more readily and with more intensity than men. The experience of disgust is associated with increased attention to disgust-related stimuli, but no prior study has examined sex differences in attention to disgust facial expressions. We hypothesised that women, compared to men, would demonstrate increased attention to disgust facial expressions. Participants (n = 172) completed an eye tracking task to measure visual attention to emotional facial expressions. Results indicated that women spent more time attending to disgust facial expressions compared to men. Unexpectedly, we found that men spent significantly more time attending to neutral faces compared to women. The findings indicate that women's increased experience of emotional disgust also extends to attention to disgust facial stimuli. These findings may help to explain sex differences in the experience of disgust and in diagnoses of anxiety disorders in which disgust plays an important role.
['Kraines|Morganne A|MA|', 'Kelberer|Lucas J A|LJA|', 'Wells|Tony T|TT|']
D001288:Attention D004644:Emotions D005133:Eye Movements D005149:Facial Expression D005260:Female D006801:Humans D008297:Male D012727:Sex Characteristics D055815:Young Adult
sex Attention disgust eye tracking