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Advice-Taking for Objective Face Age Estimates Relative to Subjective Face Trustworthiness Estimates.
Joseph R Phillips1, Gabrielle Weidemann2,3, Natalie C Ebner4
1Faculty of Health, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2007, Australia.
Behavioral Sciences (Basel, Switzerland)
|June 26, 2025
Summary
People take more advice when estimating face age than face trustworthiness, even when trustworthiness is harder. This suggests task difficulty alone doesn't determine advice-taking in face perception.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Social Psychology
- Human Perception
Background:
- Individuals often rely on advice when making judgments.
- Advice-taking behavior can be influenced by task characteristics and individual differences.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate whether advice-taking differs between objective (face age) and subjective (face trustworthiness) estimations.
- To explore the relationship between task difficulty, confidence, and advice-taking for different types of face-based judgments.
Main Methods:
- A judge-advisor system task was employed with 177 participants.
- Participants estimated face age and trustworthiness, and their advice-taking was measured.
- Cognitive resources (fluid intelligence, working memory) and perceived/actual difficulty were assessed.
Main Results:
- Advice-taking was significantly greater for objective face age estimates compared to subjective face trustworthiness estimates.
- Face trustworthiness estimations were rated as more difficult and participants reported lower confidence.
- Greater advice-taking correlated with higher actual difficulty for age estimates but lower actual difficulty for trustworthiness estimates.
Conclusions:
- The relationship between task difficulty and advice-taking is complex and depends on the nature of the estimate (objective vs. subjective).
- Motivations underlying objective versus subjective estimations may influence how individuals integrate advice.
- Findings challenge the notion that advice-taking universally increases with task difficulty.
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