This phenomenon, in which smiling faces are evaluated as being older than neutral faces, is called the aging effect of smiling (AES Ganel & Goodale, 2021). However, contrary to the commonly held association between smiling and youth, Ganel (2015) showed that a smiling face is estimated to be older than a neutral face.
Indeed, previous research has provided evidence that individuals with a smile appear younger than those with other facial expressions ( Hass et al., 2016 Voelkle et al., 2012). We associate smiling with youth, that is, it is generally believed that when people see a smiling person, they feel that person is younger. Interestingly, several studies have reported that humans have a counterintuitive bias regarding age. Previous studies have specifically focused on the effects of gender and race on perceived age ( Dehon & Brédart, 2001 Nkengne et al., 2008). However, various factors distort age perception (see Moyse, 2014). Thus, accurate age identification is crucial in determining social roles and facilitating social interaction. Among the many information dimensions that can easily be extracted from a face, age is considered the primary dimension ( George & Hole, 1998). We generally estimate a person’s age from their faces and accordingly change our attitude and manner of speaking ( Ryan et al., 1986). This holistic processing of the face creates complex interactions between multiple factors, such as the interaction between emotion and gender ( Atkinson et al., 2005).Īge is among the crucial information obtained from the face. Therefore, we cannot identify others’ faces and judge facial expressions when holistic processing is inhibited (e.g., Rakover, 2013). These distortions in face processing highlight that the face is processed holistically in contrast to other visual stimuli. For example, humans immediately lose the ability to recognize other's faces when the orientation or parts' position of the face becomes unnatural ( Tanaka & Farah, 1993 Yin, 1969). The face is a valuable source of information for social communication, and humans have developed specific processing methods for others’ faces. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that AES is not dependent on holistic processing. The results show that smiling faces were estimated to be older than neutral faces, whereas there was no significant difference between upright and inverted faces. Results: In total, 104 participants were included in the analysis. Participants were presented with an upright or inverted face for each expression (neutral, smiling, and surprised) and were asked to estimate the individual’s age.
Methods: Participants were recruited to participate in an online experiment that had a 3 (facial expression: smiling/neutral/surprised) × 2 (facial orientation: upright/inverted) mixed design. The present study aimed to clarify these issues. However, whether holistic processing for facial expressions is involved in AES has not been investigated.
Previous studies have indicated that this aging effect of smiling (AES) is due to eye wrinkles caused by the facial action of smiling. Background: Previous studies have shown that the association between smiling and youth is a misconception smiling faces have been estimated to be older than neutral faces.
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