Components of Appearance in the Structure of Perception of Visual Representations of Age

1797

Abstract

The article discusses the problem of perception of age (one’s own and that of other people), which is regarded as a special case of social perception. The aim of this study was to analyze the components of another person’s appearance in the structure of perception of visual representations of age. For these purposes the authors created a special technique, “Identifying Age through Photo Visualization” (Shkurko T.A., Nikolaeva E. G.). The study enrolled 20 individuals (10 men, 10 women aged 18 to 58 years) as “models” (i.e. objects of perception) and 60 individuals (47 women and 13 men aged 18 to 77 years) as subjects of perception. The paper shows that in the structure of perception of visual representations of age the most important are stable, moderately stable and dynamic components of appearance, among which the stable parameters prevail. The face as the focus of the stable, moderately stable and dynamic components of appearance is the key element of appearance in one’s perception of other people’s age.

General Information

Keywords: age, perceived age, perception of age, appearance, social perception, structure of perception of age

Journal rubric: Experimental Research

Article type: scientific article

DOI: https://doi.org/10.17759/sps.2015060406

For citation: Vorontsova T.A., Nikolaeva E.G. Components of Appearance in the Structure of Perception of Visual Representations of Age . Sotsial'naya psikhologiya i obshchestvo = Social Psychology and Society, 2015. Vol. 6, no. 4, pp. 78–90. DOI: 10.17759/sps.2015060406. (In Russ., аbstr. in Engl.)

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Information About the Authors

Tatyana A. Vorontsova, PhD in Psychology, Head of the Psychology Department, Associate Professor of the Department of Social Psychology of the Academy of Psychology and Pedagogy, Southern Federal University, lecturer of the special faculty of Psychocorrection, Depth Psychology and Psychoanalysis, Faculty of Psychology, Pedagogy and Defectology of the Don State Technical University and the Rostov Branch of the European Confederation of Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy. Member of the federal UMO in the system of higher education in enlarged groups of specialties and areas of training 37.00.00 Psychological sciences., Rostov-na-Donu, Russia, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1717-7059, e-mail: shkurko@sfedu.ru

Ekaterina G. Nikolaeva, Head, LLC «DonMatras», Rostov-na-Donu, Russia, e-mail: Katy_nikolaeva@mail.ru

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