Using the perceptual matching paradigm, this study explored the influence mechanism of emotional incest on high school students' self-processing and the role of emotional faces in this process, ultimately revealing the cultural specificity of emotional incest's impact on self-processing within the Chinese context. The results demonstrated that while the self-related processing advantage persists in individuals with emotional incest experience, a concurrent maternal processing advantage is observed. Under happiness conditions, the self-processing advantage in this population disappears; under sad emotional conditions, the maternal prioritization effect is significantly enhanced. However, the self-prioritization effect remains stable during anger exposure. These findings indicate that emotional incest compromises self-processing stability through two interconnected pathways: the overshadowing of self-related processing advantage by amplified maternal processing advantage, and the valence-dependent modulation of the self-prioritization effect—characterized by its disappearance under happiness, maintenance during anger, and coexistence with maternal advantage in sadness conditions.

self, emotional incest, perceptual matching paradigm, emotion