Baby, You Light-Up My Face: Culture-General Physiological Responses to Infants and Culture-Specific Cognitive Judgements of Adults
Infants universally elicit in adults a set of solicitous behaviors that are evolutionarily important for the survival of the species. However, exposure, experience, and prejudice appear to govern adults' social choice and ingroup attitudes towards other adults. In the current study, physiologic...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2016
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10356/84157 http://hdl.handle.net/10220/41648 |
| _version_ | 1826116178215436288 |
|---|---|
| author | Esposito, Gianluca Nakazawa, Jun Ogawa, Shota Stival, Rita Kawashima, Akiko Putnick, Diane L. Bornstein, Marc H. |
| author2 | Senju, Atsushi |
| author_facet | Senju, Atsushi Esposito, Gianluca Nakazawa, Jun Ogawa, Shota Stival, Rita Kawashima, Akiko Putnick, Diane L. Bornstein, Marc H. |
| author_sort | Esposito, Gianluca |
| collection | NTU |
| description | Infants universally elicit in adults a set of solicitous behaviors that are evolutionarily important for the survival of the species. However, exposure, experience, and prejudice appear to govern adults' social choice and ingroup attitudes towards other adults. In the current study, physiological arousal and behavioral judgments were assessed while adults processed unfamiliar infant and adult faces of ingroup vs. outgroup members in two contrasting cultures, Japan and Italy. Physiological arousal was investigated using the novel technique of infrared thermography and behavioral judgments using ratings. We uncovered a dissociation between physiological and behavioral responses. At the physiological level, both Japanese and Italian adults showed significant activation (increase of facial temperature) for both ingroup and outgroup infant faces. At the behavioral level, both Japanese and Italian adults showed significant preferences for ingroup adults. Arousal responses to infants appear to be mediated by the autonomic nervous system and are not dependent on direct caregiving exposure, but behavioral responses appear to be mediated by higher-order cognitive processing based on social acceptance and cultural exposure. |
| first_indexed | 2024-10-01T04:07:05Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | ntu-10356/84157 |
| institution | Nanyang Technological University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-10-01T04:07:05Z |
| publishDate | 2016 |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | ntu-10356/841572022-02-16T16:29:08Z Baby, You Light-Up My Face: Culture-General Physiological Responses to Infants and Culture-Specific Cognitive Judgements of Adults Esposito, Gianluca Nakazawa, Jun Ogawa, Shota Stival, Rita Kawashima, Akiko Putnick, Diane L. Bornstein, Marc H. Senju, Atsushi School of Humanities and Social Sciences Infants Face Infants universally elicit in adults a set of solicitous behaviors that are evolutionarily important for the survival of the species. However, exposure, experience, and prejudice appear to govern adults' social choice and ingroup attitudes towards other adults. In the current study, physiological arousal and behavioral judgments were assessed while adults processed unfamiliar infant and adult faces of ingroup vs. outgroup members in two contrasting cultures, Japan and Italy. Physiological arousal was investigated using the novel technique of infrared thermography and behavioral judgments using ratings. We uncovered a dissociation between physiological and behavioral responses. At the physiological level, both Japanese and Italian adults showed significant activation (increase of facial temperature) for both ingroup and outgroup infant faces. At the behavioral level, both Japanese and Italian adults showed significant preferences for ingroup adults. Arousal responses to infants appear to be mediated by the autonomic nervous system and are not dependent on direct caregiving exposure, but behavioral responses appear to be mediated by higher-order cognitive processing based on social acceptance and cultural exposure. Published version 2016-11-29T07:01:47Z 2019-12-06T15:39:29Z 2016-11-29T07:01:47Z 2019-12-06T15:39:29Z 2014 Journal Article Esposito, G., Nakazawa, J., Ogawa, S., Stival, R., Kawashima, A., Putnick, D. L., et al. (2014). Baby, You Light-Up My Face: Culture-General Physiological Responses to Infants and Culture-Specific Cognitive Judgements of Adults. PLoS ONE, 9(10), e106705-. 1932-6203 https://hdl.handle.net/10356/84157 http://hdl.handle.net/10220/41648 10.1371/journal.pone.0106705 25353362 en PLoS ONE This is an open-access article, free of all copyright, and may be freely reproduced, distributed, transmitted, modified, built upon, or otherwise used by anyone for any lawful purpose. The work is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 public domain dedication. 8 p. application/pdf |
| spellingShingle | Infants Face Esposito, Gianluca Nakazawa, Jun Ogawa, Shota Stival, Rita Kawashima, Akiko Putnick, Diane L. Bornstein, Marc H. Baby, You Light-Up My Face: Culture-General Physiological Responses to Infants and Culture-Specific Cognitive Judgements of Adults |
| title | Baby, You Light-Up My Face: Culture-General Physiological Responses to Infants and Culture-Specific Cognitive Judgements of Adults |
| title_full | Baby, You Light-Up My Face: Culture-General Physiological Responses to Infants and Culture-Specific Cognitive Judgements of Adults |
| title_fullStr | Baby, You Light-Up My Face: Culture-General Physiological Responses to Infants and Culture-Specific Cognitive Judgements of Adults |
| title_full_unstemmed | Baby, You Light-Up My Face: Culture-General Physiological Responses to Infants and Culture-Specific Cognitive Judgements of Adults |
| title_short | Baby, You Light-Up My Face: Culture-General Physiological Responses to Infants and Culture-Specific Cognitive Judgements of Adults |
| title_sort | baby you light up my face culture general physiological responses to infants and culture specific cognitive judgements of adults |
| topic | Infants Face |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10356/84157 http://hdl.handle.net/10220/41648 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT espositogianluca babyyoulightupmyfaceculturegeneralphysiologicalresponsestoinfantsandculturespecificcognitivejudgementsofadults AT nakazawajun babyyoulightupmyfaceculturegeneralphysiologicalresponsestoinfantsandculturespecificcognitivejudgementsofadults AT ogawashota babyyoulightupmyfaceculturegeneralphysiologicalresponsestoinfantsandculturespecificcognitivejudgementsofadults AT stivalrita babyyoulightupmyfaceculturegeneralphysiologicalresponsestoinfantsandculturespecificcognitivejudgementsofadults AT kawashimaakiko babyyoulightupmyfaceculturegeneralphysiologicalresponsestoinfantsandculturespecificcognitivejudgementsofadults AT putnickdianel babyyoulightupmyfaceculturegeneralphysiologicalresponsestoinfantsandculturespecificcognitivejudgementsofadults AT bornsteinmarch babyyoulightupmyfaceculturegeneralphysiologicalresponsestoinfantsandculturespecificcognitivejudgementsofadults |