The present work extends recent studies of the effects of masked faces on the perception of emotion in its novel use of dynamic facial expressions (as opposed to still images) and the investigation of different types of smiles.įor most people, life during the COVID-19 pandemic may have felt flat and lacking in the full range and complexity of social stimulation. Masked smiles communicated less of the target signal than unmasked smiles, but not more of other possible signals. In the second study, participants rated the extent to which three categories of smiles (reward, affiliation, and dominance) conveyed positive feelings, reassurance, and superiority, respectively. Higher levels of other (non-target) emotions were also perceived in masked expressions. Across conditions, participants perceived significantly lower levels of the expressed (target) emotion in masked faces, and this was particularly true for expressions composed of more facial action in the lower part of the face. In the first, participants saw dynamic expressions of happiness, disgust, anger, and surprise that were covered by N95, surgical, or cloth masks or were uncovered and rated the extent to which the expressions conveyed each of the same four emotions. Do the eyes carry sufficient information to allow for the accurate perception of emotions in dynamic expressions obscured by masks? What about the perception of the meanings of specific smiles? We addressed these questions in two studies. However, wearing masks to prevent the spread of viruses such as COVID-19 involves obscuring a large portion of the face. According to the familiar axiom, the eyes are the window to the soul.
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