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

1798

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.)

References

  1. Belopol’skaya N.L., Vissarionov V.A., Shafirova E.M. Psikhologicheskie aspekty esteticheskoi meditsiny [Psychological Aspects of Aesthetic Medicine]. Aktual’nye voprosy plasticheskoi khirurgii i kosmetologii [Urgent Issues of Plastic Surgery and Cosmetology]. Moscow: Institute of plastic surgery and cosmetology, 2012. pp. 349—360.
  2. Belopol’skaya N.L., Vissarionova V.V., Shafirova E.M. Opredelenie khronologicheskogo vozrasta po litsu cheloveka [Estimating of Chronologic Age from Somebody’s Face]. Litso cheloveka kak sredstvo obshcheniya: Mezhdistsiplinarnyi podkhod [Human Face as a Means of Communication: an Interdisciplinary Approach] / In Barabanshchikov V.A., Demidov A.A., Diveev D.A. (eds)., Moscow: Cogito-centre, 2012, pp. 33—44.
  3. Belugina E.V. Otnoshenie k svoemu vneshnemu obliku v period serediny zhizni. Avtoref. dis. … kand. psikhol. nauk. [Attitude to One’s Own Appearance in the Mid-life Period. Ph. D. (Psychology) Thesis]. Rostov-na-Donu, 2003.
  4. Bodalev A.A. Vospriyatie i ponimanie cheloveka chelovekom [Perception and Understanding of a Human by a Human]. Moscow: MGU, 1982. 200 p.
  5. Labunskaya V.A. Problema udovletvorennosti vneshnim oblikom: sub”ektnyi podkhod [Elektronnyi resurs] [The Problem of Satisfaction with Appearance: a Subjective Approach]. Kontsept. 2014. Sovremennye nauchnye issledovaniya [Concept. 2014. Modern Research Studies]. Issue 2. ART 55035. URL: http://e-koncept.ru/2014/55035. htm. (Accessed 12.05.2015).
  6. Labunskaya V.A. «Vidimyi chelovek» kak sotsial’no-psikhologicheskii fenomen [“A Visible Man” as a Social-Psychological Phenomenon]. Sotsial’naya psikhologiya i obshchestvo [Social Psychology and Society], 2010, no. 1, pp. 26—39. (In Russ., abstr. in Engl.).
  7. Labunskaya V.A. Sub”ektivnaya interpretatsiya fenomena «normativnoi neudovletvorennosti vneshnim oblikom» [A Subjective Interpretation of the Phenomenon of “a Normative Dissatisfaction with Appearance”] // Sub”ektnyi podkhod v psikhologii: seriya “Integratsiya akademicheskoi i universitetskoi psikhologii” [The Subjective Approach in Psychology: «Integration of Academic and University Psychology» Series] / In Zhuravlev A.L., Znakov V.V., Ryabikina Z.I., Sergienko E.A. (eds.), M.: IP RAN, 2009. pp. 355—372.
  8. Labunskaya V.A., Narovskaya Ya.B. Tipy preobrazovaniya vneshnego oblika kak otrazhenie napravlennosti preobrazovatel’noi aktivnosti sub”ekta v sotsial’nom obshchenii [Types of Transformation of the Appearance as a Reflection of the Focus of Transforming Activity of a Subject in Social Communication]. Mir psikhologii [The World of Psychology]. 2006, no. 4, pp. 96—104. (In Russ., abstr. in Engl.).
  9. Miklyaeva A.V. Vozrastnaya diskriminatsiya kak sotsial’no-psikhologicheskii fenomen [Age Discrimination as a Social and Psychological Phenomenon]. St. Petersburg: Rech, 2009. 160 p.
  10. Narovskaya Ya.B.Sotsial’no-psikhologicheskie osobennosti zhenshchin, preobrazuyushchikh svoi vneshnii oblik. Avtoref. diss. ...kand. psikhol. nauk [Social-Psychological Characteristics of Women Transforming Their Appearance. Ph. D. (Psychology) Thesis]. Rostov-na-Donu, 2007.
  11. Panferov V.N. Vospriyatie i interpretatsiya vneshnosti lyudei [Perception and Interpretation of People’s Appearance]. Voprosy psikhologii [Questions of Psychology]. 1974, no. 2, pp. 59—64.
  12. Pogontseva D.V. Krasivaya zhenshchina: sotsial’no-demograficheskii analiz predstavlenii [A Beautiful Woman: Social-Demographic Analysis of the Notions]. Sotsial’naya psikhologiya i obshchestvo [Social psychology and society]. 2011, no. 1, pp. 73—82. (In Russ., abstr. in Engl.).
  13. Psikhologiya obshcheniya. Entsiklopedicheskii slovar’ [Psychology of Communication. Encyclopaedia] / In Bodalev A.A. (ed.), Moscow: Cogito-centre, 2015. 672 p.
  14. Sergienko E.A. Sub”ektivnyi vozrast v samoopredelenii cheloveka na vremennoi distantsii ego zhiznedeyatel’nosti [A Subjective Age in the Self-Determination of a Person at a Temporal Distance of his/her Life Activity]. Mir psikhologii [The World of Psychology]. 2011, no. 3, pp. 104—119. (In Russ., abstr. in Engl.).
  15. Sergienko E.A. Sub”ektivnyi i khronologicheskii vozrast cheloveka [Elektronnyi resurs] [A Subjective and Chronologic Age of a Person]. Psikhologicheskie issledovaniya: elektronnyi nauchnyi zhurnal [Psychological Research: Electronic Scientific Journal.]. 2013, vol. 6, no. 30, p. 10. URL: http://psystudy.ru/index.php/num/2013v6n30/853­sergienko30.html (Accessed 12.05.2015). (In Russ., abstr. in Engl.).
  16. Shkurko T.A. Sotsial’no-psikhologicheskie osobennosti lichnosti s vyrazhennoi potrebnost’yu v kontrole sebya i drugikh lyudei [Social-Psychological Features of a Person with an Intense Need for Others’ and Self-Control]. Vestnik Tomskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta [Tomsk State University Bulletin]. 2011, no. 349, pp. 177—184. (In Russ., abstr. in Engl.).
  17. Shkurko T.A. Tantseval’no-ekspressivnyi trening [Dance-Expressive Training]. St. Petersburg: Rech, 2005. 192 p.
  18. Christensen K., Thinggaard M., McGue M., Rexbye H., Hjelmborg J.V.B., Aviv A., Gunn D., Van Der Ouderaa F., Vaupel J.W. Perceived age as clinically useful biomarker of ageing: Cohort study. BMJ (Online). 2009. V. 339. Issue 7735. Article number b5262. p. 1433. doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.b5262
  19. George P.A., Hole G.J. Factors influencing the accuracy of age estimates of unfamiliar faces. Perception Volume 24, Issue 9, 1995, pp. 1059—1073. doi: 10.1068/p241059
  20. Nkengne A., Bertin C., Stamatas G.N., Giron A., Rossi A., Issachar N., Fertil B. Influence of facial skin attributes on the perceived age of Caucasian women. Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology. 2008. V. 22. Issue 8. pp. 982—991. doi: 10.1111/j.1468-3083.2008.02698.x
  21. Rhodes M.G. Age estimation of faces: A review. Applied Cognitive Psychology. 2009, V. 23, Issue 1. pp. 1—12. doi: 10.1002/acp.1442
  22. Sörqvist P., Eriksson M. Effects of training on age estimation. Applied Cognitive Psychology. 2007. V. 21. Issue 1. pр. 131—135.
  23. Uotinen V., Rantanen T., Suutama T. Perceived age as a predictor of old age mortality: A 13-year prospective study. Age and Ageing. 2005. V. 34. Issue 4. pp. 368—372. doi: 10.1093/ageing/afi091
  24. Voelkle M.C., Ebner N.C., Lindenberger U., Riediger M. Let me guess how old you are: Effects of age, gender, and facial expression on perceptions of age. Psychology and Aging. 2012. V. 27, Issue 2, pp. 265—277. doi: 10.1037/a0025065

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

Metrics

Views

Total: 3024
Previous month: 16
Current month: 4

Downloads

Total: 1798
Previous month: 1
Current month: 2