Little Anthony C, Roberts S Craig, Jones Benedict C, Debruine Lisa M
School of Natural Sciences, University of Stirling, Stirling, UK.
Q J Exp Psychol (Hove). 2012;65(10):2018-32. doi: 10.1080/17470218.2012.677048. Epub 2012 May 31.
Facial appearance of candidates has been linked to real election outcomes. Here we extend these findings by examining the contributions of attractiveness and trustworthiness in male faces to perceived votability. We first use real faces to show that attractiveness and trustworthiness are positively and independently related to perceptions of good leadership (rating study). We then show that computer graphic manipulations of attractiveness and trustworthiness influence choice of leader (experiments 1 and 2). Finally, we show that changing context from wartime to peacetime can affect which face receives the most votes. Attractive faces were relatively more valued for wartime and trustworthy faces relatively more valued for peacetime (experiments 1 and 2). This pattern suggests that attractiveness, which may indicate health and fitness, is perceived to be a useful attribute in wartime leaders, whereas trustworthiness, which may indicate prosocial traits, is perceived to be more important during peacetime. Our studies highlight the possible role of facial appearance in voting behaviour and the role of attributions of attractiveness and trust. We also show that there may be no general characteristics of faces that make them perceived as the best choice of leader; leaders may be chosen because of characteristics that are perceived as the best for leaders to possess in particular situations.
候选人的面部容貌与实际选举结果有关联。在此，我们通过研究男性面部的吸引力和可信度对感知到的可投票性的影响来拓展这些发现。我们首先使用真实面孔表明，吸引力和可信度与对良好领导力的认知呈正相关且相互独立（评级研究）。然后我们表明，对吸引力和可信度进行计算机图形处理会影响领导者的选择（实验1和实验2）。最后，我们表明，将背景从战时变为和平时期会影响哪张面孔获得最多选票。在战时，有吸引力的面孔相对更受重视；在和平时期，值得信赖的面孔相对更受重视（实验1和实验2）。这种模式表明，可能暗示健康和体能的吸引力被视为战时领导者的一项有用特质，而可能暗示亲社会特质的可信度在和平时期被视为更为重要。我们的研究突出了面部容貌在投票行为中可能发挥的作用以及吸引力和可信度归因的作用。我们还表明，可能不存在使面孔被视为领导者最佳选择对象的一般特征；选择领导者可能是因为某些特质被视为在特定情形下领导者所应具备的最佳特质。
