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Person perception through facial photographs: Effects of glasses, hair, and beard on judgments of occupation and personal qualities
Abstract
Thirty-two photographs of male faces, four for each combination of the presence and absence of glasses, hair, and beard, were rated by 75 judges on 23 scales, assessing the typicality for 15 occupations as well as eight personal qualities. The effects of facial attributes on ratings formed characteristic profiles for the different scales. The pattern of correlations between facial attributes and factor scores from a factor analysis of the ratings indicates that the judges associated wearing glasses with intellectualism and goodness, being bald with idealism, and wearing a beard with unconventionality and goodness. In two further experiments, judges were to identify each of three faces with one of three or four occupations; the results confirmed the operativeness of the profiles from the rating experiment.
... Research using both schematic and photographic stimuli clearly indicates that men with hair are usually viewed more positively. Studies over decades have shown that bald or balding men are perceived as less physically attractive (Blaker et al., 2020;Cash, 1990;Hellström & Telke, 1994;Mannes, 2013;Moerman, 1988;Muscarella & Cunningham, 1996;Roll & Vernis, 1971). Men with a full head of hair are also rated higher in personal likability (Cash, 1990), confidence (Lee et al., 2002), self-assertiveness (Henss, 2001), masculinity (Butler et al., 1998;Hellström & Telke, 1994), aggressiveness (Muscarella & Cunningham, 1996), intelligence (Blaker et al., 2020), health (Blaker et al., 2020), sexual attractiveness (Henss, 2001), and potency (Lee et al., 2002;Roll & Vernis, 1971). ...
... Studies over decades have shown that bald or balding men are perceived as less physically attractive (Blaker et al., 2020;Cash, 1990;Hellström & Telke, 1994;Mannes, 2013;Moerman, 1988;Muscarella & Cunningham, 1996;Roll & Vernis, 1971). Men with a full head of hair are also rated higher in personal likability (Cash, 1990), confidence (Lee et al., 2002), self-assertiveness (Henss, 2001), masculinity (Butler et al., 1998;Hellström & Telke, 1994), aggressiveness (Muscarella & Cunningham, 1996), intelligence (Blaker et al., 2020), health (Blaker et al., 2020), sexual attractiveness (Henss, 2001), and potency (Lee et al., 2002;Roll & Vernis, 1971). ...
... Other researchers find that bald men are perceived more positively on some dimensions. Bald men are rated higher in conscientiousness, emotional stability, intellect, occupational prestige, and cheerfulness (Hellström & Telke, 1994;Henss, 2001;Moerman, 1988;Wogalter & Hosie, 1991) than men with hair. Additionally, Muscarella and Cunningham (1996) report that men with less hair receive higher social maturity and appeasement ratings (i.e., timidity, femininity, baby-facedness, naivety, and gentleness) than men with a full head of hair. ...
The question of whether or not cranial hair affects perceptions of attractiveness, personality, career success, and other traits related to fitness for men in two populations was investigated in two experiments. Experiment 1 used a 2 (race) × 2 (cranial hair of man) design, and examined attractiveness, fitness, and socially desirable personality measures. Experiment 2 used a 2 (race) × 2 (cranial hair) design to determine perceived attractiveness, fitness-related traits, and the Big-5 dimensions of personality. Amount of cranial hair did not affect personality ratings on the dimensions of the Big-5 but did affect perceived socially desired aspects of personality (such as warmth, sophistication, kindness, etc.). In Experiment 1, the White man with hair received higher perceived attractiveness, personality, and fitness ratings than the bald White man, while no differences occurred for the Black men. For Experiment 2, when differences for amount of cranial hair occurred, the White man with hair and the Black man without hair received higher perceived fitness and career success ratings. These results are discussed in terms of prior research on male cranial hair.
... For facial presentation, the results indicate the use of reading glasses, but not sunglasses and the picture appear large when it contains a face in it. According to (Hellstrom, Tekle, 1994) psychology research has shown that a person wearing reading glasses is more intelligent or has intellectual virtues. ...
... The viewers can judge a simple change in the expression of the face. Facial features include the type of glasses wore by the face that is, whether sunglasses or reading glasses, whether the beard is present or not (Hellstrom, Tekle, 1994). ...
... Male Cranial Hair and Perceived Fitness Cranial hair loss leads to reduced mate value. Bald or balding men are perceived as less physically attractive (Blaker et al., 2020;Cash, 1990;Hellström & Telke, 1994;Mannes, 2013;Moerman, 1988;Muscarella & Cunningham, 1996;Roll & Vernis, 1971) than men with hair. One reason this occurs is because women's judgments of men's attractiveness can be based on men's ability to gain resources (see Buss, 1989), and men's resource acquisition can be based on the amount of cranial hair they possess. ...
... For facial presentation, our results indicate these users display reading glasses, but not sunglasses and when a face is present, this is larger. In general, psychology research has shown that a person wearing reading glasses is more intelligent or has intellectual virtues (Hellström and Tekle 1994). ...
The content of images users post to their social media is driven in part by personality. In this study, we analyze how Twitter profile images vary with the personality of the users posting them. In our main analysis, we use profile images from over 66,000 users whose personality we estimate based on their tweets. To facilitate interpretability, we focus our analysis on aesthetic and facial features and control for demographic variation in image features and personality. Our results show significant differences in profile picture choice between personality traits, and that these can be harnessed to predict personality traits with robust accuracy. For example, agreeable and conscientious users display more positive emotions in their profile pictures, while users high in openness prefer more aesthetic photos.
... Although there are studies showing the impact of different types of facial occlusion on facial impressions of personality (e.g., Bartolini et al., 1988;Graham & Ritchie, 2019;Hellström & Tekle, 1994;Leder et al., 2011;Santos & Young, 2011;Terry & Krantz, 1993), fewer studies have focused on identifying the facial features (or combinations thereof) that uniquely predict judgments on both of the central dimensions of trustworthiness or dominance, or on whether and how these judgments are affected by occlusions of the bottom-face region. Given the impact of face occlusions on facial impressions, it is an empirical question whether the concealment of bottom-face features by masks (i) disturbs the general process of trait inferences -by interfering with both trustworthiness and dominance judgments -and/or (ii) interferes more with one dimension relative to the other. ...
Recognizing the role that facial appearance plays in guiding social interactions, here we investigated how occlusions of the bottom-face region affect facial impressions of trustworthiness and dominance. Previous studies suggesting that different facial features impact inferences on these traits sustain the hypothesis that wearing a face mask will differently affect each trait inference. And specifically, that trustworthiness impressions will be more disrupted by this type of face occlusion than dominance impressions. In two studies, we addressed this possibility by occluding the bottom face region of faces that were previously shown to convey different levels of dominance and trustworthiness, and tested differences in the ability to discriminate between these trait levels across occlusion conditions. In Study 1 faces were occluded by a mask, and in Study 2 by a square image. In both studies, results showed that although facial occlusions generally reduced participants’ confidence on their trait judgments, the ability to discriminate facial trustworthiness was more strongly affected than the ability to discriminate facial dominance. Practical and theoretical implications of these findings are discussed.
... The psychosocial impact of visual impairment corrective devices w ' ff pp r ' b h y by f b h medical and non-medical myopic groups. There were many studies conducted with regards to the psychology of wearing eyeglasses that found that individuals who are wearing glasses tend to be seen as more intelligent 15,16 , but less attractive 17,18 . ...
... For example, beardedness may be connected with more favorable attributions (e.g. higher rating of competence; Reed & Blunk, 1990) or less favorable attributions in the context of workplace or job application (De Souza et al., 2003;Terry & Krantz, 1993). Beardedness was also associated with conservatism (Feinman & Gill, 1977), unconventionality and goodness (Hellström & Tekle, 1994). ...
Researchers have found that men's facial hair may have certain signaling functions connected with intrasexual competition and intersexual attractiveness. The interesting issue is whether men's and women's preferences for men's facial hair may be considered a reflection of their intuitive knowledge about these functions. The aim of the presented studies was to analyze women's and men's preferences regarding men's facial hair using questions with a dichotomous answer format (Study 1 and Study 2) and pictorial stimuli (Study 2). In both studies, women were asked to indicate their preferences for men's facial hair. Men were asked to report preferences for facial hair in themselves and in other men, as well as to report their actual appearance of facial hair. The results showed that women's preferences for men's facial hair were ambiguous, while men preferred facial hair for themselves and had a lower inclination to prefer facial hair in other men. It suggests that men may be aware of some aspects of signaling functions of facial hair, especially these connected with intrasexual competition.
Men with distinct facial hair are perceived as more aggressive, dominant, older, and more formidable, mostly by other men. However, despite considerable interest in the social perception of beardedness, only a few studies have explored men’s preferences toward facial hair. We investigated men’s preferences toward facial hair and whether their judgments of facial hair appropriateness in social situations depended on their actual beardedness and the type of social interaction (N = 509; age: M = 29.35, SD = 7.24). Men preferred having more facial hair, particularly when they have a heavy stubble or a full beard. Men preferred more facial hair for themselves compared to other men, suggesting that men’s preferences for facial hair could be based on the frequency-dependent value of a display, namely more value assigned to rarer attributes. Men’s judgments of the appropriateness of facial hair were sensitive to social situations for displaying facial hair as well. More facial hair was considered more appropriate for informal situations, especially with another man. Social norms associated with formal interaction could, therefore, limit the impression management functions of beards in intrasexual competition.
36 male and 44 female college students were presented with a series of 15 stimuli which were designed to represent the variables of hair color, hair length, quantity of scalp hair, hair quality and amount of facial hair. Each stimulus was rated on scales representing the Evaluative, Potency, and Activity dimensions. The proposition that stereotypes are identifiable was strongly confirmed. Of 18 specific predictions 15 were also confirmed. Explanation in full of these findings was not effected.
Bern's Sex-role Inventory was administered to 60 male undergraduates divided into three groups: artificially bearded, wearing a bandanna, and control. The beard-wearers chose a significantly greater proportion of masculine adjectives than did the controls.
The influence of both length of hair and beardedness on impressions of personality was examined. Undergraduate subjects (43 males and 45 females) were presented with one of four drawings, representing a man who had either long or short hair (hair-length) and was either bearded or clean-shaven (beardedness). Subjects were asked to form an impression of the person represented and to indicate the impression formed by placing checkmarks between a number of bipolar scales. Results indicated a markedly negative impression. was formed of the long- as compared to the short-haired male. Consistent with prior research, the bearded male was regarded more positively than the clean-shaven male. Results were discussed in terms of the stereotypic view associated with long hair.
Although Mueller, Thompson, and Vogel (1988) concluded that at present we do not have sufficient findings with which to answer the question of whether criminal stereotyping might affect witness identifications, there is some evidence that people do at least possess such stereotypes.
-For a scenario describing a slender male 160 male students indicated more favorable ratings as more assertive, better supervisor, and more acceptable to others. The most salient features of a social interaction are the physical characteristics of the actors and it has been shown that various physical dimensions elicit particular trait attributions. For instance. it has been found that muscular body build is linked to favorable personal traits, while obese, and to lesser extent, slender body build is associated with negative stereotypes (1, 2, 3, 5). Others (4, 7) examined the emotive or personality attributions made to physiognomy and kinestic cues. Hair length has been related to evaluations made of a male target (6). Few studies have attempted to link physical characteristics to specific performance-related attributes. The purpose of this study was to determine whether individuals would utilize information about physical characteristics in making job-related evaluations of a hypothetical person. One hundred and sixty male undergraduates were randomly administered one of eight scenarios in which a hypothetical male applicant was being considered for promotion to a managerial position in a large company. The description of the applicant varied along the following three physical dimensions: height (tall vs short), physique (slender vs obese), and cranial hair (full vs bald). After reading a particular scenario, each subjea predicted the extent to which subordinates and colleagues would accept the applicant as a supervisor and the subject rated the applicant on various job-related behaviors, e.g., assertiveness and fairness. Ratings were given on 7-point scales. A 2 (height) X 2 (physique) x 2 (cranial hair) analysis for completely randomized groups showed no significant main effects for height or cranial hair. However, a number of significant effects were found for physique. The slender applicant was rated over the obese applicant as more assertive (Slender M = 7.87, SD = 1.48; Obese M = 6.92, SD = 2.0; p < ,001). as making a better supervisor (Slender M = 7.49, SD = 2.15; Obese M = 6.81, SD = 2.45; p < .05), and as being more favorably accepted by colleagues (Slender M = 7.87. SD = 1.38; Obese M = 6.98; SD = 1.83; fi < ,001) and by subordinates (Slender M = 7.87, SD = 1.60; Obese M = 6.70, SD = 1.89; p < .05). As mentioned earlier, researchers have found a negative stereotype associated with an endomorphic body build. This study supports the ubiquirousness and potency of this unfavorable stereotype in U. S. society. Such individuals are typically described as mentally unhealthy and as lacking in self-confidence and personal incentive. Such a stereotype is not suggestive of a leadership role. Moreover, the subjects in this study may have perceived height and cranial hair as outside of one's personal control, whereas body weight may be voluntarily regulated and therefore more negative attributions were assigoed to the overweight applicant.