Investigating Eye Movements to Examine Attachment-Related Differences in Facial Emotion Perception and Face Memory

Individual differences in attachment orientations may influence how we process emotionally significant stimuli. As one of the most important sources of emotional information are facial expressions, we examined whether there is an association between adult attachment styles (i.e., scores on the ECR questionnaire, which measures the avoidance and anxiety dimensions of attachment), facial emotion perception and face memory in a neurotypical sample. Trait and state anxiety were also measured as covariates. Eye-tracking was used during the emotion decision task (happy vs. sad faces) and the subsequent facial recognition task; the length of fixations to different face regions was measured as the dependent variable. Linear mixed models suggested that differences during emotion perception may result from longer fixations in individuals with insecure (anxious or avoidant) attachment orientations. This effect was also influenced by individual state and trait anxiety measures. Eye movements during the recognition memory task, however, were not related to either of the attachment dimensions; only trait anxiety had a significant effect on the length of fixations in this condition. The results of our research may contribute to a more accurate understanding of facial emotion perception in the light of attachment styles, and their interaction with anxiety characteristics.