Our emotional state may influence what we see, says study

According to a new study, our emotions in a given moment may influence what we see, it shows that humans are active perceivers. The findings have been published in the journal Psychological Science, have implications that extend from everyday social interactions to situations with more severe consequences.


Psychological scientist Erika Siegel said, “We do not passively detect information in the world and then react to it – we construct perceptions of the world as the architects of our own experience. Our effective feelings are a critical determinant of the experience we create. That is, we do not come to know the world through only our external senses – we see the world differently when we feel pleasant or unpleasant.”


As per the latest research, “They wanted to see if changing people’s emotional states outside awareness might actually change how they see the neutral faces. Using a technique called continuous flash suppression; the researchers were able to present stimuli to participants without them knowing it.”