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Published on: June 3, 2013
Generalized tendency to make extreme trait judgements from faces.
Atsunobu Suzuki1, Saori Tsukamoto2, Yusuke Takahashi3
1Department of Psychology, Graduate School of Humanities and Sociology, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan.
Individuals show a consistent tendency to make extreme judgments about others based on facial appearance across various traits. This generalized face-based trait inference (FBTI) tendency is stable and linked to other psychological factors.
Area of Science:
- Social Psychology
- Cognitive Psychology
- Evolutionary Psychology
Background:
- Face-based trait inference (FBTI) involves judging personality and abilities from facial appearance.
- Extreme FBTI can negatively impact real-world decisions.
- Previous theories suggested FBTI extremity is trait-specific.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate if there is a generalized tendency for extreme FBTI across different traits.
- To identify psychological correlates of generalized FBTI extremity.
Main Methods:
- Participants' face-based trait inferences for seven traits were assessed.
- Cross-trait correlations of inference extremity were analyzed.
- Associations with response biases, facial emotion recognition, physiognomy beliefs, and stereotypes were examined.
Main Results:
- High cross-trait correlations indicated a general factor of FBTI extremity.
- This generalized tendency showed good test-retest reliability.
- Generalized FBTI extremity correlated positively with facial emotion recognition, physiognomy beliefs, and stereotype endorsement.
Conclusions:
- Individuals exhibit a stable, generalized disposition towards extreme face-based trait inferences.
- This tendency is not an artifact of response biases.
- Generalized FBTI extremity is linked to specific cognitive and belief systems.
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