The influences of security and context on attentional bias toward emotional faces: Evidence from eye movements

This study employed a dot-probe paradigm to investigate attentional biases toward emotional faces in individuals with high versus low levels of security across general and threat contexts, using eye-tracking technology. Participants were screened into high- and low-security groups based on validated security scales. Threat contexts were established using images from the International Affective Picture System (IAPS). Results revealed that: (1) Both high- and low-security individuals exhibited attentional biases toward emotional faces compared to neutral faces. (2) Security levels modulated attention to emotional faces: high-security individuals displayed greater bias toward happy faces, while low-security individuals showed enhanced bias toward angry faces, consistent with the schema-congruence hypothesis. (3) Reaction times accelerated under threat conditions for all participants, and threat contexts amplified attentional bias toward angry faces in high-security individuals. These findings highlight the interplay between intrinsic security and external contexts in shaping attentional processing of emotional stimuli.