[P1] Poster: Day 1

[P1-25] How facial features affect time perception: from the perspective of race and eye contact.

*Yuki Ogawa¹, Yusuke Moriguchi², Mitsuhiko Ishikawa¹ (1. Hitotsubashi University (Japan), 2. Kyoto University (Japan))

Keywords:

Time perception,Gaze direction,Race,Attention

Previous studies have shown that eye contact alters time perception. However, inconsistent findings have been reported regarding whether eye contact leads to an underestimation (Burra & Kerzel. 2021) or overestimation of time (Ren et al. 2023). One possible reason for these discrepancies is the variation in facial stimuli and participants' racial backgrounds across studies. The current study investigated how the race of facial stimuli influences time perception during eye contact among Japanese university students.In Experiment 1, participants completed a temporal bisection task using static images of Japanese and Caucasian faces with either direct or averted gaze. The results showed no significant effect of gaze direction but a significant effect of race: participants perceived the duration of Japanese faces as shorter. This suggests that static direct gaze alone is insufficient to induce an eye-contact effect on time perception.In Experiment 2, we created a pseudo eye-contact situation by dynamically presenting sequential face images with different gaze directions. In this presentation method, the sequence of an averted gaze followed by a direct gaze and then another averted gaze made the eye movement more salient, enhancing the perception of eye contact. The results revealed that participants were more likely to perceive time as longer when the gaze was directed toward them, indicating a clear eye-contact effect.These findings suggest that the method of facial image presentation influences time perception. While static direct gaze may direct attention to overall facial features, leading to a stronger racial effect, dynamic gaze shifts may enhance the perception of eye contact, thereby modulating time perception. This study highlights the role of facial race and stimulus presentation methods in shaping time perception during eye contact.
References
Burra & Kerzel 2021 Cognit., 212, 104734.Ren et al. 2023 Frontier in Psychol., 13, 967603.