Date of Award
Spring 5-8-2024
Document Type
Thesis (699 registration)
Degree Name
Master of Science in Counseling
Department
Graduate Studies
Committee Chair
Jessica Brown
Keywords
Trust, Mask, Facial Features, First Impressions, Trustworthiness, Affect Misattribution Procedure (AMP)
Abstract
Professional counselors and clients who meet in healthcare facilities may be required to wear masks if COVID community transmission levels are high ([CDC], 2022). The current 4-part study examines how masking may affect therapeutic alliances via judgements of trust formed during first impressions. A 2(trustworthiness) x 5(facial feature visibility) within-subjects factorial design was used to assess one implicit measure of pleasantness using an Affect Misattribution Procedure as well as explicit facial judgements of valence, dominance, and trustworthiness (Payne & Lundberg, 2014). Using E-prime, undergraduate psychology students responded to faces previously rated as high or low in trustworthiness in all parts (Ma et al., 2015). Both the direction and the speed of all judgements were recorded. It was predicted that implicit and explicit evaluations of masked and occluded low-trust target images would be more positive and slower than explicit evaluations of fully visible low-trust images (Oliveira & Garcia-Marques, 2022). While main effects for trustworthiness were found in ratings from every part, main effects of visibility were not. Interactions were found between trustworthiness and visibility, but primarily among ratings of the high-trust targets. In general, ratings were highest when all features of target faces were fully visible and lowest when only the bottom half of the faces were visible. Possible clinical implications of masking on first impressions are discussed.
Keywords: Trust, Mask, Facial Features, First Impressions
Recommended Citation
Culkins, Linsey, "Trust Judgements of Facial Stimuli" (2024). Dissertations, Theses, and Projects. 968.
https://red.mnstate.edu/thesis/968