Evil eyebrows of the cartoon villain
8 Jun 2012 by Evoluted New Media
The evil eyebrows and pointy chin so characteristic of a cartoon villain make our ‘threat’ instinct kick in, with the downward pointing triangle perceived as carrying a threat according to new research from the University of Warwick
Previous research by Dr Derrick Watson and Dr Elisabeth Blagrove showed that people could pick out a negative face in a crowd more quickly than positive or neutral faces. In this latest research, volunteers were asked to respond to computer-generated images of positive, negative or neutral faces flanked by either other faces or triangles facing up, down, inwards or outwards.
The first experiment showed downward pointing triangles had little influence on response to face targets, but the second experiment showed that when attentional competition increases, downward pointing triangles speeded the response to negatively valenced targets. Downward triangles are detected just as quickly as a negative face – suggesting that simple geometric shapes may convey emotional valence.
“We know from previous studies that simple geometric shapes are effective at capturing or guiding attention, particularly if these shapes carry the features present within negative or positive faces,” said Watson, a reader in the psychology department.
“Our study shows that downward pointing triangles in particular convey negative emotions and we can pick up on them quickly and perceive them as a threat.”
“If we look at cartoon characters, the classic baddie will often be drawn with the evil eyebrows that come down to a downward point in the middle,” said Blagrove. “This could go some way to explain why we associate the downward pointing triangle with negative faces. These shapes correspond with our own facial features and we are unconsciously making that link.”
