Lateralized asymmetries in self-perception.

Thirty right-handed males and females, displaying happy and sad expressions, compared left-left and right-right composites of his/her own face. For each pair of composites, depicting one emotional state, subjects chose that composite which (a) looked most like themselves and (b) depicted the more intense emotion. The results for females failed to support the contention that the right hemisphere specializes in the perception of negative affect whereas the left hemisphere is prominent for positive states. Finally, asymmetries were more pronounced in females rather than males.