The Relationship Between Biological Sex, Age, and Ones Ability
to Decode Facial Expressions
Masha Berman
Department of Psychology, The College of Wooster, Wooster, OH 44691
ABSTRACT
METHOD
Humans constantly express and interpret facial expressions as a
form of non-verbal communication. As such, the purpose of this
study was to determine if biological sex or age influence ones
ability to decode facial expressions. To test this, participants
were given a short survey and then asked to pair the universal
facial expressions to its corresponding emotion. Accuracy and
time to complete the task was measured and recorded. A 2 x 4
ANOVA revealed a main effect of biological sex and age.
Accuracy and time to complete the task were better in females
and older participants, where the youngest group was responsible
for the main effect of age. These results suggest an evolutionary
advantage of this skill for females, where it has been sexually
selected for because of their near-universal role as the child
caretaker. In addition, this skill can be improved as one gets
older, possibly because of their greater social experience.
Participants:
One hundred 5-7, 10-12, 15-17, and 20-22 year old students were
used in this experiment. In each age group, half of the
participants were female.
Procedure:
Participants were given a survey inquiring about sex, age, and
quantity of social interactions. Following was the practice stage.
Participants were asked, via multiple choice, to pair the universal
facial expression with its corresponding emotion. Then they
entered the testing stage. This consisted of thirty-five questions
varying in difficulty for the expression of that specific emotion.
The accuracy and time to complete the task was recorded.
INTRODUCTION
RESULTS
Statistical Analysis:
Darwin (1890) proposed this hypothesis, which claims that all
humans communicate basic internal emotional states because
of their shared evolutionary origins. Most researchers support
Darwin’s theory, but there is some controversy within the
literature (1, 2, 5).
Main effects were observed for gender and age, where females
and older people were more accurate and faster at the task.
Tukey’s HSD revealed that the main effect of age was because of
the 5-7 year old group. No significant interaction was observed.
Survey Results:
Future Works:
Older people had more social experience.
Future research needs to determine if the biological sex or age of
the person expressing the facial expression are important for the
interpreter’s understanding.
Males
One study found no significant age differences, but observed that
the oldest group tested was the best at discriminating facial
expressions (6).
Females
Accuracy /Speed
Age Differences:
REFERENCES
Purpose & Hypothesis:
The purpose of this study was to resolve the discrepancies within
the literature, testing to see if there were differences in decoding
facial expressions between the different sexes and age groups. It
was hypothesized that females and older individuals would be
faster and more accurate at decoding emotional facial
expressions, due to past research (2, 6). No interaction was
expected.
Females are more accurate and faster at interpreting emotional
facial expressions. This suggests that women, with these
enhanced abilities, had an evolutionary advantage over their
counterparts. Most likely, they were sexually selected for
because of their near-universal role as child caretaker. Decoding
facial expressions becomes increasingly important when one
considers an infants inability to communicate using words.
Age
Differences:
Older individuals are better at decoding facial expressions,
possibly because of their greater social experience. This provides
some evidence to suggest that innate skills, such as this, can be
improved upon by environmental factors.
Biological Sex Differences:
Females have been shown to be better than men at decoding
facial expressions, but these findings are not consistent (3, 4).
Biological Sex Differences:
A 2 (sex) x 4 (age) ANOVA was conducted to determine if there
were biological sex and/or age differences in decoding facial
expressions. Alpha was set at .05 for all analysis.
Main Effects/Interactions:
Universality Hypothesis:
CONCLUSIONS
5-7 Years
10-12 Years
15-17 Years
Age Group
20-22 Years
Figure 1: Accuracy and speed in pairing facial expression with appropriate emotion, as
a function of biological sex and age. A main effect was observed for biological sex and
age. Females and older individuals were faster and more accurate at the task. Tukey’s
HSD revealed this main effect was due to the youngest age group. No significant
interaction was observed. Alpha was set at .05 for all tests.
1. Darwin, C., & Darwin, F. (1890). The expressions of the emotions in man and
animals (2d ed.). Longon: J. Murray.
2. Elfenbein, H. A., & Ambady, N. (2002). On the universality and cultural specificity
of emotion recognition: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 128(2), 203–
235. doi: 10.1037/0033-2909.128.2.203
3. Grimshaw, G. M., Bulman-Fleming, M. B., & Ngo, C. (2004). A signal-detection
analysis of sex differences in the perception of emotional faces. Brain and
Cognition, 54(3), 248–250. doi:10.1016/j.bandc.2004.02.029
4. Hampson, E., Vananders, S., & Mullin, L. (2006). A female advantage in the
recognition of emotional facial expressions: Test of an evolutionary hypothesis.
Evolution and Human Behavior, 27(6), 401–416. doi:10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.
2006.05.002
5. Jack, R. E., Garrod, O. G. B., Yu, H., Caldara, R., & Schyns, P. G. (2012). Facial
expressions of emotion are not culturally universal. Proceedings of the National
Academy of Sciences, 109(19), 7241–7244. doi:10.1073/pnas.1200155109
6. Lenti, C., Lenti-Boero, D., & Giacobbe, A. (1999). Decoding of emotional
expressions in children and adolescents. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 89(3), 808–
814. doi:10.2466/pms.1999.89.3.808