Gender of the expresser moderates the effect of emotional faces on the startle reflex

It has been suggested that the impact of emotional expressions on the startle reflex is influenced by the intention communicated by the expression (e.g., the intention to attack). However, we propose that the meaning of an emotional expression is not only based on the intention, but is also influenced by characteristics of the expresser such as gender: since men are typically seen as more dominant than women, anger expressed by men should be perceived as particularly threatening, thus amplifying the startle response. We compared the influence of anger, fear and neutral expressions shown by men and women on the startle reaction. Startle reactions were measured using electromyography. As predicted, we found stronger startle reactions after the presentation of anger expressed by men compared to fearful and neutral expressions shown by men. For female expressers, the startle response was not affected by expression type.