An individual's ability to recognize facial expressions is influenced by exposure to a certain emotional expression over a long period or by the prolonged exposure to a prototypical facial expression. This study revealed that the recognition of facial expressions varied according to the exposure to non-prototypical facial expressions for a relatively short period. After being exposed to the faces of anger-prone individuals, whose morphed faces frequently expressed anger, the participants more frequently perceived the expression on the face as happy. On the other hand, after being exposed to the faces of happiness-prone individuals whose morphed faces frequently expressed happiness, the participants more frequently perceived the face as angry. In addition, we found a relative increase in the social desirability for happiness-prone individuals after the exposure. These results proved that people dynamically became sensitive to the change in facial expressions by adapting to the exposed facial expressions over a short period.
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