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Never look down power: The relationship between looking directions and hierarchical sense

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Abstract

Height-power relationship has been commonly found in architecture and interior designs. The earliest experience of the positive relationship between height and power may be found in the stage of infancy. Based on the rationale of embodied cognition in the context of this height-power relationship, the present research speculates that the effect of head movements can affect an individual’s judgment about personal status. Participants in Study 1 did not show this positional effect through upward/downward eyeball movements. Supportive evidence, however, was yielded in Study 2, in which participants wearing VR headsets were required to move their heads to look at stimuli. A synchronized relationship between the viewer and the agent being watched was proposed, which potentially explains a shortcut in the processing of social relationships.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Counselling and Psychology, Hong Kong Shue Yan University, 10 Wai Tsui Crescent, Braemar Hill Road, North Point, Hong Kong

    L. Y. Lo, C. L. Pang & H. Y. Chui

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  1. L. Y. Lo
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Ethical approval has been given by the Research Ethics Committee, Department of Counselling and Psychology in Hong Kong Shue Yan University. Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Lo, L.Y., Pang, C.L. & Chui, H.Y. Never look down power: The relationship between looking directions and hierarchical sense. Curr Psychol 40, 3725–3733 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-019-00324-8

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