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The functional basis of face evaluation.

Nikolaas N Oosterhof1, Alexander Todorov

  • 1Department of Psychology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08540, USA.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
|August 8, 2008
PubMed
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Facial evaluations of trustworthiness and dominance predict social outcomes. This study models face perception using two key dimensions: valence and dominance, revealing how facial features influence these rapid, adaptive judgments.

Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Psychology
  • Social Psychology
  • Computer Vision

Background:

  • Facial evaluations influence critical social outcomes like elections and legal decisions.
  • Previous research suggests faces are judged on multiple trait dimensions.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To develop and validate a two-dimensional (2D) model of face evaluation.
  • To identify the key dimensions underlying automatic face perception.
  • To understand how facial features contribute to these evaluations.

Main Methods:

  • Principal Components Analysis (PCA) of trait judgments on neutral faces.
  • Development and validation of data-driven statistical models for face representation.
  • Correlation analysis between facial features, perceived valence/dominance, and social judgments.

Related Experiment Videos

Main Results:

  • Two orthogonal dimensions, valence and dominance, sufficiently describe face evaluation.
  • Valence correlates with approach/avoidance cues; dominance correlates with physical strength cues.
  • Social judgments like threat can be predicted by valence and dominance dimensions.

Conclusions:

  • Face evaluation relies on an overgeneralization of adaptive mechanisms for inferring harmful intentions and harm capacity.
  • This 2D model explains rapid, though not always accurate, social judgments from faces.