Does Friendship Influence Space Perception? With Particular Reference to the Curse of the Suspicious Participants
- Nicolas Morgado, Laboratoire de Psychologie et Neurocognition (CNRS), Université Pierre-Mendès-France, 38040 Grenoble, France
- Dominique Muller, Laboratoire Interuniversitaire de Psychologie, Institut Universitaire de France et Université Pierre-Mendès-France, 38040 Grenoble, France
- Mathieu Pinelli, Laboratoire de Psychologie et Neurocognition (CNRS), Université Pierre-Mendès-France, 38040 Grenoble, France
- Éric Guinet, Laboratoire de Psychologie et Neurocognition (CNRS), Université Pierre-Mendès-France, 38040 Grenoble, France
- Édouard Gentaz, Université de Genève / FAPSE UNI MAIL ; 40, Boulevard du Pont-d'Arve 1211 Genève 4
- Richard Palluel-Germain, Laboratoire de Psychologie et Neurocognition (CNRS), Université Pierre-Mendès-France, 38040 Grenoble, France
Abstract
In this study, we tested the hypothesis that social relationships
affect the perception of distance. When participants imagined passing through a
wall and a disliked-person, they perceived shorter aperture widths than when they
intended to pass between a wall and a liked-person. This result was observed only
for passable apertures suggesting that social constraints may influence visual
perception only when people can actually perform this action. We discuss the
results according to an embodied approach to visual perception but also with an
alternative explanation in terms of possible demand characteristics. We also
discuss some methodological points supposed to improve the validity of such
experiments.
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