Face yourself: The social neuroscience of mirror gazing
In philosophical and psychological accounts alike, it has been claimed that mirror gazing is like looking at ourselves as others. Social neuroscience and social psychology offer support for this view by showing that we use similar brain and cognitive mechanisms during perception of both others’ and...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2022-11-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Psychology |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.949211/full |
| _version_ | 1811232846903246848 |
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| author | Antonella Tramacere Antonella Tramacere |
| author_facet | Antonella Tramacere Antonella Tramacere |
| author_sort | Antonella Tramacere |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In philosophical and psychological accounts alike, it has been claimed that mirror gazing is like looking at ourselves as others. Social neuroscience and social psychology offer support for this view by showing that we use similar brain and cognitive mechanisms during perception of both others’ and our own face. I analyse these premises to investigate the factors affecting the perception of one’s own mirror image. I analyse mechanisms and processes involved in face perception, mimicry, and emotion recognition, and defend the following argument: because perception of others’ face is affected by our feelings toward them, it is likely that feelings toward ourselves affect our responses to the mirror image. One implication is that negative self-feelings can affect mirror gazing instantiating a vicious cycle where the negative emotional response reflects a previously acquired attitude toward oneself. I conclude by discussing implications of this view for psychology and social studies. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-12T11:10:07Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-4a6a3096df464d5984bd39c845ed5b02 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-1078 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-12T11:10:07Z |
| publishDate | 2022-11-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Psychology |
| spelling | doaj.art-4a6a3096df464d5984bd39c845ed5b022022-12-22T03:35:38ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782022-11-011310.3389/fpsyg.2022.949211949211Face yourself: The social neuroscience of mirror gazingAntonella Tramacere0Antonella Tramacere1Department of Philosophy and Communication Studies, University of Bologna, Bologna, ItalyDepartment of Linguistic and Cultural Evolution, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History (MPI-SHH), Jena, GermanyIn philosophical and psychological accounts alike, it has been claimed that mirror gazing is like looking at ourselves as others. Social neuroscience and social psychology offer support for this view by showing that we use similar brain and cognitive mechanisms during perception of both others’ and our own face. I analyse these premises to investigate the factors affecting the perception of one’s own mirror image. I analyse mechanisms and processes involved in face perception, mimicry, and emotion recognition, and defend the following argument: because perception of others’ face is affected by our feelings toward them, it is likely that feelings toward ourselves affect our responses to the mirror image. One implication is that negative self-feelings can affect mirror gazing instantiating a vicious cycle where the negative emotional response reflects a previously acquired attitude toward oneself. I conclude by discussing implications of this view for psychology and social studies.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.949211/fullmirror gazingbody imagebody positivityself-imagesocial neurosciencesocial psychology |
| spellingShingle | Antonella Tramacere Antonella Tramacere Face yourself: The social neuroscience of mirror gazing Frontiers in Psychology mirror gazing body image body positivity self-image social neuroscience social psychology |
| title | Face yourself: The social neuroscience of mirror gazing |
| title_full | Face yourself: The social neuroscience of mirror gazing |
| title_fullStr | Face yourself: The social neuroscience of mirror gazing |
| title_full_unstemmed | Face yourself: The social neuroscience of mirror gazing |
| title_short | Face yourself: The social neuroscience of mirror gazing |
| title_sort | face yourself the social neuroscience of mirror gazing |
| topic | mirror gazing body image body positivity self-image social neuroscience social psychology |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.949211/full |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT antonellatramacere faceyourselfthesocialneuroscienceofmirrorgazing AT antonellatramacere faceyourselfthesocialneuroscienceofmirrorgazing |