1
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Kramer RS, Jarvis JL, Green M, Jones AL. The relationship between facial attractiveness and perceived guilt across types of crime. Q J Exp Psychol (Hove) 2024; 77:1978-1986. [PMID: 37997346 DOI: 10.1177/17470218231218651] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2023]
Abstract
Facial first impressions influence jurors in both laboratory experiments and real courtrooms. Often, more attractive defendants are perceived as less guilty and receive more lenient sentences. However, the type of crime under consideration, as well as the ecological validity of the stimuli presented, may determine the nature of this bias. Here, extending previous work, we considered three crime types (robbery, sexual assault, and murder) and utilised short video clips of male defendants, accompanied by real-world crime descriptions. Crucially, we varied attractiveness by presenting a large set of identities, in comparison with the typical use of one "high" and one "low" attractive face. Using null hypothesis significance testing, we found no evidence that either attractiveness or crime type influenced guilt perceptions. Taking a Bayesian perspective, our results provided some evidence that more attractive defendants were rated as less guilty of murder but more guilty of sexual assault, with no bias observed for robbery. Importantly, however, none of these effects had high certainty and all were small in size. By comparing the extremes of attractiveness, we again found inconclusive evidence of any attractiveness effects, with small differences in all cases. The implications for this departure from previous findings are discussed in terms of ecological validity and the need to consider attractiveness as a continuous rather than binary measure.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Michaela Green
- School of Psychology & Counselling, The Open University, Milton Keynes, UK
| | - Alex L Jones
- School of Psychology, Swansea University, Swansea, UK
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2
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Kramer RSS, Koca Y, Mireku MO, Oriet C. Anchoring has little effect when forming first impressions of facial attractiveness. Perception 2024:3010066241284956. [PMID: 39319386 DOI: 10.1177/03010066241284956] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 09/26/2024]
Abstract
First impressions based on facial appearance affect our behaviour towards others. Since the same face will appear different across images, over time, and so on, our impressions may not be equally weighted across exposures but are instead disproportionately influenced by earlier or later instances. Here, we followed up on previous work which identified an anchoring effect, whereby higher attractiveness ratings were given to a person after viewing naturally varying images of their face presented in descending (high-to-low), rather than ascending (low-to-high), order of attractiveness of these images. In Experiment 1 (n = 301), we compared these 'descending' and 'ascending' conditions for unfamiliar identities by presenting six-image sequences. Although we found higher attractiveness ratings for the 'descending' condition, this small effect equated to only 0.22 points on a 1-7 response scale. In Experiment 2 (n = 307), we presented these six-image sequences in a random order and found no difference in attractiveness ratings given to these randomly ordered sequences when compared with those resulting from both our 'descending' and 'ascending' conditions. Further, we failed to detect an influence of the earlier images in these random sequences on attractiveness ratings. Taken together, we found no compelling evidence that anchoring could have an effect on real-world impression formation.
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3
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Cheung OS, Quimpo NJ, Smoley J. Implicit bias and experience influence overall but not relative trustworthiness judgment of other-race faces. Sci Rep 2024; 14:16068. [PMID: 38992163 PMCID: PMC11239880 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-66705-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/27/2023] [Accepted: 07/02/2024] [Indexed: 07/13/2024] Open
Abstract
Impressions of trustworthiness are formed quickly from faces. To what extent are these impressions shared among observers of the same or different races? Although high consensus of trustworthiness evaluation has been consistently reported, recent studies suggested substantial individual differences. For instance, negative implicit racial bias and low contact experience towards individuals of the other race have been shown to be related to low trustworthiness judgments for other-race faces. This pre-registered study further examined the effects of implicit social bias and experience on trustworthiness judgments of other-race faces. A relatively large sample of White (N = 338) and Black (N = 299) participants completed three tasks: a trustworthiness rating task of faces, a race implicit association test, and a questionnaire of experience. Each participant rated trustworthiness of 100 White faces and 100 Black faces. We found that the overall trustworthiness ratings for other-race faces were influenced by both implicit bias and experience with individuals of the other-race. Nonetheless, when comparing to the own-race baseline ratings, high correlations were observed for the relative differences in trustworthiness ratings of other-race faces for participants with varied levels of implicit bias and experience. These results suggest differential impact of social concepts (e.g., implicit bias, experience) vs. instinct (e.g., decision of approach-vs-avoid) on trustworthiness impressions, as revealed by overall vs. relative ratings on other-race faces.
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Affiliation(s)
- Olivia S Cheung
- Department of Psychology, Science Division, New York University Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, UAE.
- Center for Brain and Health, NYUAD Research Institute, New York University Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, UAE.
| | - Nathan J Quimpo
- Department of Psychology, Science Division, New York University Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, UAE
| | - James Smoley
- Department of Psychology, Science Division, New York University Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, UAE
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4
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Paruzel-Czachura M, Workman CI, El Toukhy N, Chatterjee A. First impressions: Do faces with scars and palsies influence warmth, competence and humanization? Br J Psychol 2024. [PMID: 38963684 DOI: 10.1111/bjop.12719] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/27/2023] [Accepted: 06/20/2024] [Indexed: 07/05/2024]
Abstract
A glance is enough to assign psychological attributes to others. Attractiveness is associated with positive attributes ('beauty-is-good' stereotype). Here, we raise the question of a similar but negative bias. Are people with facial anomalies associated with negative personal characteristics? We hypothesized that biases against faces with anomalies arise because of negative stereotypes (less warmth and competence) and forms of dehumanization (animalistic and mechanistic). We enrolled 1493 mTurk participants (N = 1306 after exclusion) to assess 31 traits of photographed people using 60 pairs of photographs of the same person before and after plastic surgery. Half anomalous faces had a scar and the other half had a palsy. To calculate warmth and competence, we conducted a principal components analysis of the 31 attributes. Animalistic dehumanization was assessed by averaging reverse-scored ratings corresponding to moral sensibility and rationality/logic, and mechanistic dehumanization by averaging across reverse-scored ratings corresponding to emotional responsiveness and interpersonal warmth. We found that both kinds of anomalous faces were seen as less warm, competent and were dehumanized. Our findings suggest that an 'anomalous-is-bad' stereotype generalizes regardless of the aetiology of the anomaly. This effect may be related to a reverse halo effect, that is, the horn effect.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mariola Paruzel-Czachura
- Department of Neurology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
- Penn Brain Science Center, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
- Penn Center for Neuroaesthetics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
- Institute of Psychology, University of Silesia in Katowice, Katowice, Poland
| | - Clifford I Workman
- Penn Center for Neuroaesthetics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
- Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, New Jersey, USA
| | - Noha El Toukhy
- Department of Neurology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
- Penn Brain Science Center, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
- Penn Center for Neuroaesthetics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Anjan Chatterjee
- Department of Neurology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
- Penn Brain Science Center, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
- Penn Center for Neuroaesthetics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
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5
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Martinez JE, Oh D, Todorov A. Immigration documentation statuses evoke racialized faceism in mental representations. Sci Rep 2024; 14:10673. [PMID: 38724676 PMCID: PMC11082198 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-61203-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/01/2023] [Accepted: 05/02/2024] [Indexed: 05/12/2024] Open
Abstract
U.S. immigration discourse has spurred interest in characterizing who illegalized immigrants are or perceived to be. What are the associated visual representations of migrant illegality? Across two studies with undergraduate and online samples (N = 686), we used face-based reverse correlation and similarity sorting to capture and compare mental representations of illegalized immigrants, native-born U.S. citizens, and documented immigrants. Documentation statuses evoked racialized imagery. Immigrant representations were dark-skinned and perceived as non-white, while citizen representations were light-skinned, evaluated positively, and perceived as white. Legality further differentiated immigrant representations: documentation conjured trustworthy representations, illegality conjured threatening representations. Participants spontaneously sorted unlabeled faces by documentation status in a spatial arrangement task. Faces' spatial similarity correlated with their similarity in pixel luminance and "American" ratings, confirming racialized distinctions. Representations of illegalized immigrants were uniquely racialized as dark-skinned un-American threats, reflecting how U.S. imperialism and colorism set conditions of possibility for existing representations of migrant illegalization.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joel E Martinez
- Data Science Initiative, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA.
- Department of Psychology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA.
| | - DongWon Oh
- Department of Psychology, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
| | - Alexander Todorov
- Booth School of Business, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
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6
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Axt J, To J. How Can Debiasing Research Aid Efforts to Reduce Discrimination? PERSONALITY AND SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY REVIEW 2024:10888683241244829. [PMID: 38647090 DOI: 10.1177/10888683241244829] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/25/2024]
Abstract
PUBLIC ABSTRACT Scientists studying intergroup biases are often concerned with lessening discrimination (unequal treatment of one social group versus another), but many interventions for reducing such biased behavior have weak or limited evidence. In this review article, we argue one productive avenue for reducing discrimination comes from adapting interventions in a separate field-judgment and decision-making-that has historically studied "debiasing": the ways people can lessen the unwanted influence of irrelevant information on decision-making. While debiasing research shares several commonalities with research on reducing intergroup discrimination, many debiasing interventions have relied on methods that differ from those deployed in the intergroup bias literature. We review several instances where debiasing principles have been successfully applied toward reducing intergroup biases in behavior and introduce other debiasing techniques that may be well-suited for future efforts in lessening discrimination.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jordan Axt
- McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
| | - Jeffrey To
- McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
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7
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Hong Y, Chua KW, Freeman JB. Reducing Facial Stereotype Bias in Consequential Social Judgments: Intervention Success With White Male Faces. Psychol Sci 2024; 35:21-33. [PMID: 38096364 DOI: 10.1177/09567976231215238] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/23/2024] Open
Abstract
Initial impressions of others based on facial appearances are often inaccurate yet can lead to dire outcomes. Across four studies, adult participants underwent a counterstereotype training to reduce their reliance on facial appearance in consequential social judgments of White male faces. In Studies 1 and 2, trustworthiness and sentencing judgments among control participants predicted whether real-world inmates were sentenced to death versus life in prison, but these relationships were diminished among trained participants. In Study 3, a sequential priming paradigm demonstrated that the training was able to abolish the relationship between even automatically and implicitly perceived trustworthiness and the inmates' life-or-death sentences. Study 4 extended these results to realistic decision-making, showing that training reduced the impact of facial trustworthiness on sentencing decisions even in the presence of decision-relevant information. Overall, our findings suggest that a counterstereotype intervention can mitigate the potentially harmful effects of relying on facial appearance in consequential social judgments.
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8
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Meacham AM, Kleider-Offutt HM, Funk F. Looking more criminal: It's not so black and white. Mem Cognit 2024; 52:146-162. [PMID: 37640902 DOI: 10.3758/s13421-023-01451-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 08/08/2023] [Indexed: 08/31/2023]
Abstract
Prior research regarding the influence of face structure on character judgments and first impressions reveals that bias for certain face-types is ubiquitous, but these studies primarily used decontextualized White faces for stimuli. Given the disadvantages Black men face in the legal system, this study aimed to investigate whether the criminal face-type presented in the context of crime influenced different legal system-type judgments as a function of perpetrator race. In a mixed-model design, participants saw Black and White computer-generated faces that varied in criminality presented with either violent or nonviolent crime scenarios. At test, participants attempted to identify the original perpetrator from a photo array, along with providing penalty severity judgments for the crime committed. Results indicate that when crimes were violent, participants meted harsher penalties overall to Black faces or to high-criminality faces identified as the perpetrator. Furthermore, for violent crimes, participants were more likely to select a face from the photo array that was higher/equally as high in criminality rating relative to the actual perpetrator when memory failed or when the perpetrator was Black. Overall, the findings suggest that when people are making judgments that could influence another's livelihood, they may rely heavily on facial cues to criminality and the nature of the crime; and this is especially the case for Black faces presented in the context of violent crime. The pattern of results provides further support for the pervasive stereotype of Black men as criminal, even in our racially diverse sample wherein 36% identified as Black.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ashley M Meacham
- Department of Psychology, Georgia State University, 140 Decatur Street SE, Atlanta, GA, 30303, USA.
| | - Heather M Kleider-Offutt
- Department of Psychology, Georgia State University, 140 Decatur Street SE, Atlanta, GA, 30303, USA
- Neuroscience Institute, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Friederike Funk
- Department of Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, München, Germany
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9
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Marini F, Sutherland CAM, Ostrovska B, Manassi M. Three's a crowd: Fast ensemble perception of first impressions of trustworthiness. Cognition 2023; 239:105540. [PMID: 37478696 DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2023.105540] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/24/2022] [Revised: 05/07/2023] [Accepted: 06/27/2023] [Indexed: 07/23/2023]
Abstract
Trustworthiness impressions are fundamental social judgements with far-reaching consequences in many aspects of society, including criminal justice, leadership selection and partner preferences. Thus far, most research has focused on facial characteristics that make a face individually appear more or less trustworthy. However, in everyday life, faces are not always perceived in isolation but are often encountered in crowds. It has been proposed that we deal with the large amount of facial information in a group by extracting summary statistics of the crowd, a phenomenon called ensemble perception. Prior research showed that ensemble perception occurs for various facial features, such as emotional expression, facial identity, and attractiveness. Here, we investigated whether observers can integrate the level of trustworthiness from multiple faces to extract an average impression of the crowd. Across four studies, participants were presented with crowds of faces and were asked to report their average level of trustworthiness with an adjustment (Experiment 1) and a rating task (Experiments 2 and 3). Participants were able to extract an ensemble perception of trustworthiness impressions from multiple faces. Moreover, observers were able to form a summary statistic of trustworthiness impressions from a group of faces as quickly as 250 ms (Experiment 4). Taken together, these results demonstrate that ensemble perception can occur at the level of impressions of trustworthiness. Thus, these critical social judgements not only occur for individual faces but are also integrated into a unique ensemble impression of crowds. Our findings contribute to the development of a more ecological approach to the study of trust impressions, since they provide an understanding of trustworthiness judgements not only on an individual level, but on a much broader social group level. Furthermore, our results drive forward new theory because they demonstrate for the first time that ensemble representations cover a broad range of phenomena than previously recognized, including complex high-level facial trait judgements such as trustworthiness impressions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fiammetta Marini
- School of Psychology, University of Aberdeen, King's College, Aberdeen, UK.
| | - Clare A M Sutherland
- School of Psychology, University of Aberdeen, King's College, Aberdeen, UK; School of Psychological Science, University of Western Australia, Crawley, Western Australia, Australia
| | - Bārbala Ostrovska
- School of Psychology, University of Aberdeen, King's College, Aberdeen, UK
| | - Mauro Manassi
- School of Psychology, University of Aberdeen, King's College, Aberdeen, UK
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10
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Axt JR, Yang J, Deshpande H. Misplaced Intuitions in Interventions to Reduce Attractiveness-Based Discrimination. PERSONALITY AND SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY BULLETIN 2023; 49:527-540. [PMID: 35179056 PMCID: PMC9989229 DOI: 10.1177/01461672221074748] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Individuals and organizations are increasing efforts to address discrimination. Nonexperts may lack awareness of, or are resistant to, scientifically informed strategies for reducing discrimination, instead relying on intuition. Five studies investigated the accuracy of nonexperts' intuitions about reducing discrimination concerning physical attractiveness. In Studies 1a to 1c (N = 902), participants predicted the effectiveness of six interventions to reduce attractiveness-based favoritism on a judgment task. Studies 2a and 2b (N = 6,292) investigated the effectiveness of these interventions. Although two interventions reduced discrimination, intuitions were poorly aligned with actual results; fewer than 1% of participants identified the combination of interventions that did, versus did not, impact judgment, and responses were more likely to be below than above chance when predicting each intervention's effectiveness. Although follow-up work should investigate the accuracy of intuition in other forms of discrimination, these results further stress the need for greater development and adoption of evidence-based strategies for combating discrimination.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jordan R Axt
- McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.,Project Implicit, Seattle, WA, USA
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11
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Contextual modulation of appearance-trait learning. Cognition 2023; 230:105288. [PMID: 36166944 DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2022.105288] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/12/2021] [Revised: 08/25/2022] [Accepted: 09/14/2022] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
When we encounter a stranger for the first time, we spontaneously attribute to them a wide variety of character traits based on their facial appearance. There is increasing consensus that learning plays a key role in these first impressions. According to the Trait Inference Mapping (TIM) model, first impressions are the products of mappings between 'face space' and 'trait space' acquired through domain-general associative processes. Drawing on the associative learning literature, TIM predicts that first-learned associations between facial appearance and character will be particularly influential: they will be difficult to unlearn and will be more likely to generalise to novel contexts than appearance-trait associations acquired subsequently. The study of face-trait learning de novo is complicated by the fact that participants, even young children, already have extensive experience with faces before they enter the lab. This renders the study of first-learned associations from faces intractable. Here, we overcome this problem by using Greebles - a class of novel synthetic objects about which participants had no previous knowledge or preconceptions - as a proxy for faces. In four experiments (total N = 640) with adult participants we adapt classic AB-A and AB-C renewal paradigms to study appearance-trait learning. Our results indicate that appearance-trait associations are subject to contextual control, and are resistant to counter-stereotypical experience.
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12
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Shen X, Maiolatesi AJ, Mann TC, Ferguson MJ. The Relation Between Updated Implicit Evaluations and the Trust Game. SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGICAL AND PERSONALITY SCIENCE 2022. [DOI: 10.1177/19485506221141661] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
Recent work has shown that people can update their implicit evaluations based on facial trustworthiness. However, do these updated implicit evaluations map onto subsequent decisions? We examined whether implicit evaluations based on faces but updated in light of new behavioral evidence uniquely predict responses in the trust game. Across six studies ( N = 2,059), we measured participants’ initial implicit evaluations of a target based on the target’s face and then their updated implicit evaluations based on newly learned behavioral evidence. We then tested whether these updated implicit evaluations uniquely predicted (i.e., beyond explicit evaluations) responses in a hypothetical trust game. Although participants consistently based their initial evaluations on the face and updated their evaluations after learning new diagnostic information, their updated implicit evaluations did not uniquely predict their responses in the trust game. We discuss theoretical considerations in this article.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xi Shen
- Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
- University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA
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13
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Cassidy BS, Hughes C, Krendl AC. Disclosing political partisanship polarizes first impressions of faces. PLoS One 2022; 17:e0276400. [DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0276400] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/26/2022] [Accepted: 10/06/2022] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
Americans’ increasing levels of ideological polarization contribute to pervasive intergroup tensions based on political partisanship. Cues to partisanship may affect even the most basic aspects of perception. First impressions of faces constitute a widely-studied basic aspect of person perception relating to intergroup tensions. To understand the relation between face impressions and political polarization, two experiments were designed to test whether disclosing political partisanship affected face impressions based on perceivers’ political ideology. Disclosed partisanship more strongly affected people’s face impressions than actual, undisclosed, categories (Experiment 1). In a replication and extension, disclosed shared and opposing partisanship also engendered, respectively, positive and negative changes in face impressions (Experiment 2). Partisan disclosure effects on face impressions were paralleled by the extent of people’s partisan threat perceptions (Experiments 1 and 2). These findings suggest that partisan biases appear in basic aspects of person perception and may emerge concomitant with perceived partisan threat.
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14
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Suzuki A, Tsukamoto S, Takahashi Y. Generalized tendency to make extreme trait judgements from faces. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2022; 9:220172. [PMID: 36425525 PMCID: PMC9682301 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.220172] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/10/2022] [Accepted: 10/31/2022] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
People differ in their tendency to infer others' personalities and abilities from their faces. An extreme form of such face-based trait inference (FBTI) is problematic because of its unwarranted impact on real-world decision making. Evolutionary perspectives on FBTI suggest that its inter-individual variation would be trait-specific: e.g. those who make extreme face-based inferences about trustworthiness may not necessarily do so about dominance. However, there are several psychological variables that can increase the FBTI extremity across traits. Here, we show that there is a generalized individual tendency to make extreme FBTI across traits, in support of the latter view. We found that the degrees of extremity of face-based inferences about seven traits had high cross-trait correlations, constituting a general factor. This generalized FBTI extremity had good test-retest reliability and was neither an artefact of extreme nor socially desirable response biases. Moreover, it was positively associated with facial emotion recognition ability and tendencies to believe physiognomy and endorse stereotypes. Our results demonstrate that there are individuals who have a temporally stable disposition to draw extreme conclusions about various traits of others from facial appearance as well as their psychological characteristics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Atsunobu Suzuki
- Department of Psychology, Graduate School of Humanities and Sociology, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan
| | - Saori Tsukamoto
- Department of Psychology, Aichi Gakuin University, 12 Araike, Iwasaki-cho, Nisshin, Aichi 470-0195, Japan
| | - Yusuke Takahashi
- Division of Cognitive Psychology in Education, Graduate School of Education, Kyoto University, Yoshida-honmachi, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto-shi, Kyoto 606-8501, Japan
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15
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Swe DC, Palermo R, Gwinn OS, Bell J, Nakanishi A, Collova J, Sutherland CAM. Trustworthiness perception is mandatory: Task instructions do not modulate fast periodic visual stimulation trustworthiness responses. J Vis 2022; 22:17. [PMID: 36315159 PMCID: PMC9631496 DOI: 10.1167/jov.22.11.17] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/07/2022] Open
Abstract
Although it is often assumed that humans spontaneously respond to the trustworthiness of others’ faces, it is still unclear whether responses to facial trust are mandatory or can be modulated by instructions. Considerable scientific interest lies in understanding whether trust processing is mandatory, given the societal consequences of biased trusting behavior. We tested whether neural responses indexing trustworthiness discrimination depended on whether the task involved focusing on facial trustworthiness or not, using a fast periodic visual stimulation electroencephalography oddball paradigm with a neural marker of trustworthiness discrimination at 1 Hz. Participants judged faces on size without any reference to trust, explicitly formed impressions of facial trust, or were given a financial lending context that primed trust, without explicit trust judgement instructions. Significant trustworthiness discrimination responses at 1 Hz were found in all three conditions, demonstrating the robust nature of trustworthiness discrimination at the neural level. Moreover, no effect of task instruction was observed, with Bayesian analyses providing moderate to decisive evidence that task instruction did not affect trustworthiness discrimination. Our finding that visual trustworthiness discrimination is mandatory points to the remarkable spontaneity of trustworthiness processing, providing clues regarding why these often unreliable impressions are ubiquitous.
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Affiliation(s)
- Derek C Swe
- School of Psychological Science, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia.,
| | - Romina Palermo
- School of Psychological Science, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia.,
| | - O Scott Gwinn
- College of Education, Psychology, and Social Work, Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia.,
| | - Jason Bell
- School of Psychological Science, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia.,
| | - Anju Nakanishi
- School of Psychological Science, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia.,
| | - Jemma Collova
- School of Psychological Science, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia.,
| | - Clare A M Sutherland
- School of Psychological Science, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia.,School of Psychology, University of Aberdeen, King's College, Aberdeen, Scotland.,
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16
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The cultural learning account of first impressions. Trends Cogn Sci 2022; 26:656-668. [PMID: 35697651 DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2022.05.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/27/2022] [Revised: 05/16/2022] [Accepted: 05/17/2022] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
Humans spontaneously attribute character traits to strangers based on their facial appearance. Although these 'first impressions' typically have no basis in reality, some authors have assumed that they have an innate origin. By contrast, the Trait Inference Mapping (TIM) account proposes that first impressions are products of culturally acquired associative mappings that allow activation to spread from representations of facial appearance to representations of trait profiles. According to TIM, cultural instruments, including propaganda, illustrated storybooks, art and iconography, ritual, film, and TV, expose many individuals within a community to common sources of correlated face-trait experience, yielding first impressions that are shared by many, but typically inaccurate. Here, we review emerging empirical findings, many of which accord with TIM, and argue that future work must distinguish first impressions based on invariant facial features (e.g., shape) from those based on facial behaviours (e.g., expressions).
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17
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Marini M, Paglieri F, Ansani A, Caruana F, Viola M. Facial impression of trustworthiness biases statement credibility unless suppressed by facemask. CURRENT PSYCHOLOGY 2022; 43:1-11. [PMID: 35698486 PMCID: PMC9178339 DOI: 10.1007/s12144-022-03277-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 05/24/2022] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
The impression of trustworthiness based on someone's facial appearance biases our subsequent behavior toward that subject in a variety of contexts. In this study, we investigated whether facial trustworthiness also biases the credibility of utterances associated with that face (H1). We explored whether this bias is mitigated by utterances eliciting reasoning, i.e. explanations (as opposed to factual statements; H2). Moreover, we hypothesized that overimposing facemasks on those faces could enhance/reduce utterance credibility due to social value of mask-wearing (H3), and that facemasks could counter the putative credibility bias introduced by facial trustworthiness (H4). If so, this may be either because facemasks remove the visual information necessary for trustworthiness impression (H4a), or because information is less salient, although it can be retrieved under different circumstances (H4b). An online study (N = 159) was conducted to test these hypotheses. In the first task, subjects saw 48 facial pictures coupled with one utterance and judged the truthfulness/falsity of this utterance. In the second task, they saw again 16 of the faces from the previous tasks and were asked to recall whether the associated utterance was true or false. Findings from the first task support H1 and H4, but not H2 and H3. However, in the second task, where the face is the only available cue, the credibility-mitigation bias exerted by facemask disappears, supporting H4b over H4a. Our results confirm the pervasivity of facial trustworthiness impressions in social cognition, and suggest that facemask can mitigate them, or at least their salience. Supplementary information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12144-022-03277-7.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marco Marini
- Institute of Cognitive Sciences and Technologies (ISTC), Italian National Research Council (CNR), Rome, Italy
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
| | - Fabio Paglieri
- Institute of Cognitive Sciences and Technologies (ISTC), Italian National Research Council (CNR), Rome, Italy
| | - Alessandro Ansani
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
- Cosmic Lab, Department of Philosophy, Communication, and Performing Arts, Roma Tre University, Rome, Italy
| | - Fausto Caruana
- Institute of Neuroscience, Italian National Research Council (CNR), Parma, Italy
| | - Marco Viola
- Department of Philosophy and Education, University of Turin, Turin, Italy
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18
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Pandeirada JNS, Fernandes NL, Madeira M, Marinho PI, Vasconcelos M. Can I Trust This Person? Evaluations of Trustworthiness From Faces and Relevant Individual Variables. Front Psychol 2022; 13:857511. [PMID: 35619794 PMCID: PMC9127658 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.857511] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/18/2022] [Accepted: 03/28/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Josefa N S Pandeirada
- William James Center for Research, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal.,Department of Education and Psychology, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal
| | - Natália Lisandra Fernandes
- William James Center for Research, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal.,Department of Education and Psychology, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal
| | - Mariana Madeira
- William James Center for Research, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal.,Department of Education and Psychology, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal
| | | | - Marco Vasconcelos
- William James Center for Research, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal.,Department of Education and Psychology, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal
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19
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20
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Jaeger B, Evans AM, Stel M, van Beest I. Understanding the role of faces in person perception: Increased reliance on facial appearance when judging sociability. JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jesp.2022.104288] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
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21
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Inferring political and religious attitudes from composite faces perceived to be related to the dark triad personality traits. PERSONALITY AND INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.paid.2021.111070] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
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22
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Jaeger B, Noor M, Paladino P. Consensual and idiosyncratic trustworthiness perceptions independently influence social decision‐making. EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY 2021. [DOI: 10.1002/ejsp.2806] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Bastian Jaeger
- Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam Amsterdam Netherlands
- Tilburg University Tilburg Netherlands
| | - Masi Noor
- Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam Amsterdam Netherlands
- Tilburg University Tilburg Netherlands
| | - Paola Paladino
- Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam Amsterdam Netherlands
- Tilburg University Tilburg Netherlands
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23
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Cook R, Over H. Why is the literature on first impressions so focused on White faces? ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2021; 8:211146. [PMID: 34567592 PMCID: PMC8456137 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.211146] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/19/2021] [Accepted: 09/01/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
We spontaneously attribute to strangers a wide variety of character traits based on their facial appearance. While these first impressions have little or no basis in reality, they exert a strong influence over our behaviour. Cognitive scientists have revealed a great deal about first impressions from faces including their factor structure, the cues on which they are based, the neurocognitive mechanisms responsible, and their developmental trajectory. In this field, authors frequently strive to remove as much ethnic variability from stimulus sets as possible. Typically, this convention means that participants are asked to judge the likely traits of White faces only. In the present article, we consider four possible reasons for the lack of facial diversity in this literature and find that it is unjustified. Next, we illustrate how the focus on White faces has undermined scientific efforts to understand first impressions from faces and argue that it reinforces socially regressive ideas about 'race' and status. We go on to articulate our concern that opportunities may be lost to leverage the knowledge derived from the study of first impressions against the dire consequences of prejudice and discrimination. Finally, we highlight some promising developments in the field.
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Affiliation(s)
- Richard Cook
- Department of Psychological Sciences, Birkbeck, University of London, Malet Street, London WC1E 7HX, UK
| | - Harriet Over
- Department of Psychology, University of York, Heslington, York YO10 5DD, UK
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24
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Li Y, Jiang Z, Yang Y, Leng H, Pei F, Wu Q. The Effect of the Intensity of Happy Expression on Social Perception of Chinese Faces. Front Psychol 2021; 12:638398. [PMID: 34194357 PMCID: PMC8236610 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.638398] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/06/2020] [Accepted: 05/17/2021] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Numerous studies have shown that facial expressions influence trait impressions in the Western context. There are cultural differences in the perception and recognition rules of different intensities of happy expressions, and researchers have only explored the influence of the intensity of happy expressions on a few facial traits (warmth, trustworthiness, and competence). Therefore, we examined the effect of different intensities of Chinese happy expressions on the social perception of faces from 11 traits, namely trustworthiness, responsibility, attractiveness, sociability, confidence, intelligence, aggressiveness, dominance, competence, warmth, and tenacity. In this study, participants were asked to view a series of photographs of faces with high-intensity or low-intensity happy expressions and rate the 11 traits on a 7-point Likert scale (1 = "not very ××," 7 = "very ××"). The results indicated that high-intensity happy expression had higher-rated scores for sociability and warmth but lower scores for dominance, aggressiveness, intelligence, and competence than the low-intensity happy expression; there was no significant difference in the rated scores for trustworthiness, attractiveness, responsibility, confidence, and tenacity between the high-intensity and low-intensity happy expressions. These results suggested that, compared to the low-intensity happy expression, the high-intensity happy expression will enhance the perceptual outcome of the traits related to approachability, reduce the perceptual outcome of traits related to capability, and have no significant effect on trustworthiness, attractiveness, responsibility, confidence, and tenacity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yaning Li
- School of Psychology, Inner Mongolia Normal University, Hohhot, China
- College of Psychology, Liaoning Normal University, Dalian, China
| | - Zhongqing Jiang
- College of Psychology, Liaoning Normal University, Dalian, China
| | - Yisheng Yang
- School of Psychology, Inner Mongolia Normal University, Hohhot, China
| | - Haizhou Leng
- Department of Elementary Education, Hebei Normal University, Shijiazhuang, China
| | - Fuhua Pei
- School of Psychology, Inner Mongolia Normal University, Hohhot, China
| | - Qi Wu
- College of Psychology, Liaoning Normal University, Dalian, China
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25
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Thierry SM, Mondloch CJ. First impressions of child faces: Facial trustworthiness influences adults' interpretations of children's behavior in ambiguous situations. J Exp Child Psychol 2021; 208:105153. [PMID: 33905972 DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2021.105153] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/21/2020] [Revised: 02/04/2021] [Accepted: 03/12/2021] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Despite the profound behavioral consequences that first impressions of trustworthiness have on adult populations, few studies have examined how adults' first impressions of trustworthiness influence behavioral outcomes for children. Using a novel task design, we examined adults' perceptions of children's behavior in ambiguous situations. After a brief presentation of a child's face (high trust or low trust), participants viewed the child's face embedded within an ambiguous scene involving two children (Scene Task) or read a vignette about a misbehavior done by that child (Misbehavior Task). In the Scene Task, participants described what they believed to be happening in each scene; in the Misbehavior Task, participants indicated whether the behavior was done on purpose or by accident. In both tasks, participants also rated the behavior of the target child and indicated whether that child would be a good friend. In Experiment 1, young adults (n = 61) and older adults (n = 57) viewed unaltered face images. In Experiment 2, young adults (N = 59) completed the same tasks while viewing images of child faces morphed toward high-trust and low-trust averages. In both experiments, ambiguous scenes and misbehaviors were interpreted more positively when the target child had a high-trust face versus a low-trust face, with comparable patterns of results for the two age groups. Collectively, our results demonstrate that a child's facial trustworthiness biases how adults interpret children's behavior-a heuristic that may have lasting behavioral consequences for children through a self-fulfilling prophecy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sophia M Thierry
- Department of Psychology, Brock University, St. Catharines, Ontario L2S 3A1, Canada
| | - Catherine J Mondloch
- Department of Psychology, Brock University, St. Catharines, Ontario L2S 3A1, Canada.
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26
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Chua KW, Freeman JB. Facial Stereotype Bias Is Mitigated by Training. SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGICAL AND PERSONALITY SCIENCE 2020. [DOI: 10.1177/1948550620972550] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
People automatically infer others’ personality (e.g., trustworthiness) based on facial appearance, and such facial stereotype biases predict real-world consequences across political, legal, and business domains. The present research tested whether these biases can be mitigated through counterstereotype training aimed at reconfiguring the associations between specific facial appearances and social traits. Across six studies and a replication, a behavioral counterstereotype training consistently reduced or eliminated facial stereotype biases for White male faces in the context of economic trust games, hiring decisions, and even automatic evaluations assessed via evaluative priming. Together, the results demonstrate a fundamental malleability in facial stereotyping related to trustworthiness, with a minimal training able to mitigate the tendency to activate and apply long-held, highly automatized facial stereotypes. These findings suggest that face impressions are more flexible than typically appreciated, and they provide a potential inroad toward combating our ingrained biases based on facial appearance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kao-Wei Chua
- Department of Psychology, New York University, NY, USA
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