One plus one is more than two: The interactive influence of group membership and emotional facial expressions on the modulation of the affective startle reflex.

It has been demonstrated repeatedly that the evaluation of a face is not only influenced by the social message that is signaled by the face's emotional expression, but also by other social factors such as ethnicity or group membership. Studies in the field of startle research, however, have hitherto investigated only the effects of one of the two factors - that is, either emotional expression or group membership - on the startle response. Yet, we propose that the startle reflex is a sensitive marker for the interactive effect of both factors.

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).