Seeing Anger without Self-Blame and Its Association with Depression: Insights from a Morphed Face Study

Purpose: Depressed individuals tend to focus more frequently and for longer durations on negative stimuli, particularly angry facial expressions, which may exacerbate their symptoms. This heightened sensitivity is associated with mood-congruent attentional biases and the absence of a "protective bias" that typically serves to filter out negative information. Such tendencies may activate negative schemas and further intensify depressive symptomatology. A critical factor in this dynamic is how individuals interpret the source of the negative emotions they perceive—specifically, whether they internalize or externalize blame. Among depressed individuals, self-blame may be readily triggered, particularly in response to perceived anger in others. In the present study, we investigated the association between depressive symptoms and a relatively stable tendency to deflect personal responsibility in unpleasant interpersonal situations, such as when confronted with another person's anger. Methods: Using a series of morphed emotional faces, we examined a representative sample of Polish citizens (N = 1241) who participated online. Apart from the emotion recognition task, they completed a set of questionnaires. Results: The tendency to see anger cues in environment was significantly and negatively related to depressive symptoms in the condition of not taking personal responsibility for negative circumstances (i.e., low level of self-blame). Conclusions: The findings were discussed in the context of non-reactivity, highlighting their practical implications. This perspective underpins therapeutic approaches cultivating non-reactive awareness, emphasizing the value of observing rather than internalizing social negativity among individuals with depressive symptoms.