Can third-party observers detect attraction in others based on subtle nonverbal cues?

Iliana Samara*, Tom S. Roth, Milica Nikolic, Eliska Prochazkova, Mariska E. Kret

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

In a series of three studies, we examined whether third-party observers can detect attraction in others based on subtle nonverbal cues. We employed video segments of dates collected from a speed-dating experiment, in which daters went on a brief (approx. 4 min) blind-date and indicated whether they would like to go on another date with their brief interaction partner or not. We asked participants to view these stimuli and indicate whether or not each couple member is attracted to their partner. Our results show that participants could not reliably detect attraction, and this ability was not influenced by the age of the observer, video segment location (beginning or middle of the date), video duration, or general emotion recognition capacity. Contrary to previous research findings, our findings suggest that third-party observers cannot reliably detect attraction in others. However, there was one exception: Recognition rose above chance level when the daters were both interested in their partners compared to when they were not interested.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)18928-18942
Number of pages15
JournalCurrent Psychology
Volume42
Issue number22
Early online date8 Apr 2022
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Aug 2023
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
The authors wish to thank all researchers involved for their invaluable help during data collection. Furthermore, we would like to thank Liselotte Rambonnet for coordinating the PsychologieLab op Wielen event. This research was supported by the Netherlands Science Foundation 016.VIDI.185.036 to MEK and a Talent Grant 406–15-026 from Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (to MEK and EP). The authors declare no conflict of interest. All materials and preregistration protocols are uploaded on Dataverse ( https://doi.org/10.34894/OS6PQ9 ).

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022, The Author(s).

Funding

The authors wish to thank all researchers involved for their invaluable help during data collection. Furthermore, we would like to thank Liselotte Rambonnet for coordinating the PsychologieLab op Wielen event. This research was supported by the Netherlands Science Foundation 016.VIDI.185.036 to MEK and a Talent Grant 406–15-026 from Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (to MEK and EP). The authors declare no conflict of interest. All materials and preregistration protocols are uploaded on Dataverse ( https://doi.org/10.34894/OS6PQ9 ).

Keywords

  • Attraction
  • Emotion detection
  • Speed-dating
  • Third-party observer
  • Zero-acquaintance

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