Human beings observe, recognize and classify faces differently according to their culture, says a study published in the journalPublic Library of Science (PLoS).
Analyzing theeye movementof a series of volunteers while processing a face, researchers from the University of Glasgow (United Kingdom) have shown that, while thewesternersthey usually lookfirst the eyes and then the mouth, theoriental asiantend to fixate onthe nose and the center of the face. One possible explanation is that staring someone in the eye “can be considered rude in East Asian cultures,” says psychologist Roberto Caldara, a co-author of the study. And these differences in eye movement could also help explain why all Easterners look practically the same to a Westerner.
The way to visually process asceneryit also presents cultural differences. Thus, while an Asian focuses more on the background image, a Westerner tends to focus his attention on specific objects in the scene before his eyes.
The results of Caldara’s study provide a new point of view on the problems that arise in non-verbal communication between people of different races. “Western societies are, in general, individualistic, while Eastern societies are collectivist”, explains the researcher. And he adds that whileWesterners think and perceive in a more focused way-Also the faces-, the orientals usually do itglobally.
