Abstract:

Previous research found that facial attractiveness positively affects attentional resources allocation in the sense that more attentional resources are allocated to attractive faces. However, the underlying mechanism of how facial attractiveness affects attentional resources allocation is still unclear. The present study seeks to clarify the three key issues in this stream of research. First of all, there are two processes of attentional resource allocation: attention capture, which refers to the process of the initial orientation of attention; and attention adhesion, which represents the difficulty of turning attention away from the target. Nevertheless, the experimental paradigms in previous studies can not clearly distinguish the two processes in explaining attention preference for facial attractiveness. That is, the findings could be interpreted both as the positive effect of facial attractiveness on attention capture and on attention adhesion. In this study, we want to differentiate these two distinct processes. Specifically, since there is no existing paradigm to examine the effect on attention adhesion, we seek to adapt Levin's (2000) visual search paradigm by putting attractive faces as background in the condition of no target face. If attractive faces have a stronger effect on attention adhesion, therefore, it will take a longer time for the participants to navigate through all the background face pictures and then make the judgment that there was no target. Another way to test the effect on attention adhesion is the modified cue paradigm by using attractive faces as invalid cues. We then measure the time for the participants to shift attention from the invalid face cue pictures to the point location. If facial attractiveness can influence the time of shifting attention, it is suggested to have an effect on attention adhesion.
Second, there are two types of attention capture: top-down attention capture and bottom-up attention capture. The process of top-down attention capture occurs when the participants search for a particular target which is informed in advance, whereas bottom-up attention capture happens if a specific stimulus captures the participants’ attention when they are either aimlessly browsing a certain area, or when their task (or target) is not related to the stimulus. Existing studies on the effects of facial attractiveness on attention capture did not investigate the difference between the two processes. However, in bottom-up attention capture, the stimulus (not task-related) in the visual field itself attracts attention. As such, attention is unintentionally attracted by the distinct features of the stimulus itself. It is suggested that only strong features of the stimulus can elicit bottom-up attention capture. It is unclear whether facial attractiveness is such a strong feature. The present study tries to address this controversial issue. We plan to use two new paradigms to examine bottom-up attention capture. In Langton et al.'s (2008) visual search paradigm, the participants are told to search for some non-face pictures, such as animals or plants. Attractive face pictures would appear randomly in the background. Another way to examine bottom-up attention capture is the modified cue paradigm. In the task, the participants are asked to report the location of a point while attractive face pictures are used as valid cues. In both paradigms, to avoid the appearance of face pictures being too frequent such that the participants notice the task to be related to faces, we set the probability of the appearance of faces and all other kinds of pictures as the same.
The third issue is about whether the motivational state can reshape the influence of facial attractiveness on attentional resources allocation. Attractive faces have the advantage of attracting attention. The widely-accepted theoretical explanation is from the evolutionary perspective, which suggests that facial attractiveness is related to mate selection because high attractiveness indicates good health and fertility. In this regard, the motivational state may influence the priority of attentional resources allocation. This issue has been paid less research attention in the existing studies. There are two crucial evolutionary motivations: self-protection motivation and mating motivation. Research found that people generally prioritize self-protection motivation over mating motivation. The current study seeks to investigate whether the effects of facial attractiveness on attentional resources allocation will be weakened if the participants’ self-protection motivation is activated. We plan to use the pictures, texts, and videos to prime participants' mating and self-protection motivations to test the moderating effect of evolutionary motivations.

Key words: facial attractiveness, attention capture, attention adhesion, mating motivation, self-protection motivation