Your Facial Bone Structure Has a Big Influence on How People See You - Scientific American - 0 views
www.scientificamerican.com/...nfluence-on-how-people-see-you
brain influence research science psychology
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New research shows that although we perceive character traits like trustworthiness based on a person’s facial expressions, our perceptions of abilities like strength are influenced by facial structure
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A face resembling a happy expression, with upturned eyebrows and upward curving mouth, is likely to be seen as trustworthy while one resembling an angry expression, with downturned eyebrows, is likely to be seen as untrustworthy.
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For those of us seeking to appear friendly and trustworthy to others, a new study underscores an old, chipper piece of advice: Put on a happy face.
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the relevance of facial expressions to perceptions of characteristics such as trustworthiness and friendliness.
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for those faces lacking structural cues, people could no longer perceive strength but could still perceive personality traits based on facial expressions.
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An analysis revealed that participants generally ranked people with a happy expression as friendly and trustworthy but not those with angry expressions.
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rank faces as indicative of physical strength based on facial expression but graded faces that were very broad as that of a strong individual.
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In the first variation, for faces lacking emotional cues, people could no longer perceive personality traits but could still perceive strength based on width
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perceptions of abilities such as physical strength are not dependent on facial expressions but rather on facial bone structure.
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As might be expected, participants picked faces with happier expressions as financial advisors and selected broader faces as belonging to power-lifting champs.
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Most of the participants found the computer-generated averages to be good representations of trustworthiness or strength — and generally saw the average “financial advisor” face as more trustworthy and the “power-lifter” face as stronger.
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he findings suggest facial expressions strongly influence perception of traits such as trustworthiness, friendliness or warmth, but not ability (strength, in these experiments).
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facial structure influences the perception of physical ability but not intentions (such as friendliness and trustworthiness, in this instance)
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this new work reveals how perceptions of the same person can vary greatly depending on that person’s facial expression in any given moment
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Studies of facial width and height in females have shown mixed results, so presenting study subjects with a mix of male and female faces would have yielded inconclusive results.
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In our everyday lives this study and others make clear that although we might try to influence others’ perceptions of us with photos showing us donning sharp attire or displaying a self-assured attitude, the most important determinant of others' perception of and consequent behavior toward us is our faces.