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We make 'snap judgements' of others
[Posted: Wed 23/08/2006 - www.irishhealth.com]
When we see a new face, our brains decide whether that person is attractive and trustworthy within one-tenth of a second, the results of new research indicate.
According to US psychologist, Alex Todorov, people respond intuitively to faces so rapidly, that their reasoning minds may not have time to influence the reaction.
"The link between facial features and character may be tenuous at best, but that doesn't stop our minds from sizing other people up at a glance. We decide very quickly whether a person possesses many of the traits we feel are important, such as likeability and competence, even though we have not exchanged a single word with them", Mr Todorov explained.
As part of his study, Mr Todorov and a fellow researcher conducted a number of experiments on around 200 people. For one experiment, the participants were asked to look at difference faces for one of three times durations - 100 milliseconds, 500 milliseconds or a full second.
After each face was shown on a screen, the participants marked whether they found the face to be trustworthy or not and also how confident they were in their analysis.
Other experiments conducted in a similar fashion tested for different specific traits, such as likeability and competence.
"What we found is that if given more time, people's fundamental judgement about faces did not change. Observers simply became more confident in their judgements as the duration lengthened", Mr Todorov noted.
However why the brain makes such snap judgements is not yet entirely clear, he said. He also emphasised that the findings do not mean that a quick first impression cannot be overturned by the rational mind.
"As time passes and you get to know people, you, of course, develop a more rounded conception of them. But because we make these judgements without conscious thought, we should be aware of what is happening when we look at a person's face", he said.
Meanwhile the aspects of a face that inspire such judgements remain undetermined.
"We still don't know the physical features of a face that lead to a particular trait inference. We know generally what makes a face attractive, such as its symmetry, the proportions of its parts and the like. But what is it about a face that makes you think its owner is an essentially competent person? That's the subject of another study, one that needs to be done", Mr Todorov added.
Details of these findings are published in the journal, Psychological Science.
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