First impressions: Do faces with scars and palsies influence warmth, competence and humanization?

Area of Science:

• Social Psychology
• Perception Psychology
• Stereotype Research

Background:

• The 'beauty-is-good' stereotype links attractiveness to positive attributes.
• Facial anomalies may trigger negative biases, similar to attractiveness stereotypes.
• Existing research lacks exploration of negative biases associated with facial anomalies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate if individuals with facial anomalies are perceived with negative personal characteristics.
• To test the hypothesis that biases against anomalous faces stem from negative stereotypes (warmth, competence) and dehumanization (animalistic, mechanistic).
• To examine the 'anomalous-is-bad' stereotype and its relation to the horn effect.

Main Methods:

• 1306 participants assessed 31 traits of photographed individuals with facial anomalies (scar, palsy) before and after surgery.
• Principal components analysis was used to calculate warmth and competence ratings.
• Animalistic and mechanistic dehumanization were assessed using specific attribute ratings.

Main Results:

• Faces with anomalies were perceived as significantly less warm and competent.
• Both animalistic and mechanistic dehumanization were associated with anomalous faces.
• The negative bias generalized across different types of facial anomalies.

Conclusions:

• An 'anomalous-is-bad' stereotype appears to operate, irrespective of the anomaly's cause.
• This bias may be explained by a reverse halo effect, or 'horn effect'.
• Findings highlight the pervasive influence of appearance on social perception and judgment.