Gender differences in face pareidolia: The effect of cognitive style and judgment criteria.

Abstract

Face pareidolia refers to perceiving facial features on inanimate objects. Previous studies have identified gender differences in pareidolia, but the factors behind these differences remain unclear. This study examined potential influences, including task requirement, low-frequency information encoding ability, and cognitive style. University student participants reported what they saw in face-like object images and rated their face-likeness. A delayed matching task with blurred faces assessed encoding ability, and the Navon task examined cognitive style. Results showed that gender differences were influenced by task demands: women were more likely than men to perceive faces in objects, and this was not related to facial configuration processing. Additionally, a global processing tendency predicted higher pareidolia in women but not in men. Our findings suggest that gender differences in pareidolia are shaped by judgment criteria, with women adopting more relaxed criteria. This research contributes to understanding gender differences in social cognition.