Appearing Happy Can Make You Look More Trustworthy – And A Wider Face Can Make You Seem Competent

The science of Phrenology claims that the personality, emotional traits, and mental ability of a human being are linked to the size and shape of the head. New scientific research claims to have discovered that a happy looking face with upturned eyebrows and upward curving mouth cause others to view that person as trustworthy, and that a wider face is interpreted as belonging to a competent person.

This study shows that whether scientists or the general public actually believe Phrenology is a valid science or not, they react as if Phrenology is true. Treating a wide faced individual as if they are more competent is a Phrenological connection because a wide face is being associated with mental ability. Treating people with upturned eyebrows and mouths as more trustworthy is a Phrenological connection, because trustworthiness, a personality trait, is being linked to upturned eyebrows and mouths.

The original news story is reprinted below.

Whether you’re on LinkedIn or Tinder, your choice of profile picture can change how people judge your character.

For those who want to appear trustworthy, a new study confirms an old piece of advice: smile.

The same study, however, found that there is nothing you do to your facial expression in photos to make you seem more competent.

Phrenology_HappyFaceSeemsMoreTrustworthy

People base their judgement on trustworthiness on facial muscles. Upturned eyebrows and upward curving mouth signal friendliness and reliability (top). Perceptions of competence are drawn from a face’s skeletal structure (bottom). Wider faces are thought to be more competent when it comes to physical performance

‘Our findings show that facial cues conveying trustworthiness are malleable while facial cues conveying competence and ability are significantly less so,’ said Jonathan Freeman, an assistant professor at New York University.

This is due to the fact that people base their judgement on trustworthiness on changing facial muscles.

Happier-looking people are automatically judged to be more trustworthy, than those that appear angry or sad.

But perceptions of competence are usually drawn from a face’s skeletal structure, which you can’t change.

The study looked at one type of competence in particular; physical ability.

It found that men with wider faces were overwhelmingly favoured by strangers. Wider faces indicate more testosterone and as a result, more strength.

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MEN WITH WIDE FACES EARN MORE

Researchers in the U.S. last year found people with wide faces are more likely to get a bonus compared with their thin-faced rivals.

Fuller faced workers earn $2066 (£1,300) more than those with narrow faces when asking for a bonus, the study found.

However, researchers said this comes with a compromise. Wide faced people fared less well when it came to business negotiations.

And men who are more attractive are better collaborators compared to less attractive men, they said.

Previous research based on the ‘facial width-to-height ratio’ found individuals behave more selfishly when interacting with men with wider faces.

This research claims that while men with wider faces are more likely to lie and cheat, they tend to lead more financially successful firms.

We negotiate everyday whether we think about it or not,’ said University of California’s Professor Michael Haselhuhn.

‘It’s not just the big things, like a car or a home. It’s what time your kid is going to go to bed or what you or your spouse are going to have for dinner.

‘These studies show that being a man with a wider face can be both a blessing and a curse and awareness of this may be important for future business success.’

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The study used four experiments in which female and male subjects examined both photos and computer-generated images of adult males.

In the first, the volunteers looked at five distinct photos of 10 adult males of different ethnicities.

Here, subjects’ perceptions of trustworthiness of those pictured changed significantly, with happier-looking faces seen as more trustworthy and angrier-looking faces seen as more untrustworthy.

But the subjects’ perceptions of ability, or competence, remained static – judgments were the same no matter which photo of the individual was being judged.

A second experiment replicated the first, but here, volunteers studied 40 computer-generated faces that slowly evolved from ‘slightly happy’ to ‘slightly angry’.

The images showed 20 different neutral instances of each individual face that slightly resembled a happy or angry expression.

As with the first experiment, the subjects’ perceptions of trustworthiness paralleled the emotion of the faces.

The slightly happier the face appeared, the more likely he was seen to be trustworthy and vice versa for faces appearing slightly angrier. But, once again, perceptions of ability remained unchanged.

The third experiment asked study participants to select which face they would choose to be their financial advisor and which they thought would be most likely to win a weightlifting competition.

Subjects chose the happiest expressions to be their financial advisor, but they were more likely to say that men with a wider facial structure would win a weight-lifting competition.

For the last experiment, researchers used digitally altered faces to represent the faces of a trustworthy financial advisor or competitive weightlifter.

They asked participants to rate the trustworthiness and competence of each.

Once again, they found that happier faces seemed more trustworthy, while wider faces seemed more competent.

The study only included male faces, and focuses on physical competence, but previous research appears to back up these results.

Researchers in the U.S. last year found people with wide faces are more likely to get a bonus compared with their thin-faced rivals.

Fuller faced workers earn $2066 (£1,300) more than those with narrow faces when asking for a bonus, the study found.

However, researchers said this comes with a compromise. Wide faced people fared less well when it came to business negotiations.

And men who are more attractive are better collaborators compared to less attractive men, they said

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