An Experimental Study on` Prevailing Emotions and Recognition of Facial Expressions in the Virtual Stimuli

Abstract

The effects of “prevailing emotions and recognition of facial expressions in the virtual stimuli” was investigated using three scales emotional sensitivity self assessment scale which consisted of 20 items, Danva 2 test which consisted of 24 pictures of happy, sad, fearful and angry emotion and PANAS-GEN scale which consisted of 20 items, ten items projecting negative affect and ten items projecting positive effect. The results on all the three scales were compared and gender differences were found. Also, differences were found in positive and negative emotions with intensity. The total sample taken was 122 subjects (61 males and 61 females) in the age range of 18-25 years. The study found that females of the present age-group were more sensitive to emotionality than males. They were also found to be better at recognizing emotions in the facial expressions more accurately. However, judging the intensity of facial emotions did not show any differences between the males and females. This study explains the relationship between emotional sensitivity, positive emotions and negative emotions, happiness, sadness, fearfulness anger and judging the emotional intensity accurately. The correlations have been found to be significant at P<0.5 and P<0.01 level. The study could be implicated as a great tool of investigation in the fields of forensic psychology, investigating agencies, marketing, and advertising.