Ma Jing Rachel, Perrett David Ian
School of Psychology & Neuroscience, University of St. Andrews, St Andrews, Scotland, United Kingdom.
School of Business, University of Dundee, Dundee, United Kingdom.
PLoS One. 2025 May 27;20(5):e0324508. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0324508. eCollection 2025.
The attributions made to faces are well described by two dimensions of apparent trustworthiness (valence or warmth) and apparent competence (dominance and power) (Todorov A, Mende-Siedlecki P, Dotsch R. Curr Opin Neurobiol, 2013, 23, 373-80). This model has been extended to include a third dimension of apparent age and attractiveness (Sutherland CAM, Oldmeadow JA, Santos IM, Towler J, Michael Burt D, Young AW. Cognition, 2013, 127, 105-18). Previous research has tested the association between appearance and leadership attainment for high-level leaders such as elite politicians and chief executive officers of top performing organisations in the US and Western Europe. Here we focus on a Chinese organisational context and explore how facial attributions are associated with appointment at mid-level managerial positions. Participants rated leadership, competence, trustworthiness, attractiveness and age of faces of male employees of a Chinese Real Estate company. Our findings reveal that apparent trustworthiness and age are more critical predictors of leadership attainment than competence or attractiveness in the context of mid-level management in China. The study supports the three-dimensional attribution framework and reaffirms the importance of facial cues in leadership selection across diverse cultural settings.
面部特征的归因可以通过两个维度来很好地描述，即表面可信度（效价或温暖度）和表面能力（支配力和权力）（托多罗夫A、门德 - 西德莱茨基P、多奇R。《当代神经生物学观点》，2013年，23卷，373 - 380页）。该模型已扩展到包括表面年龄和吸引力的第三个维度（萨瑟兰CAM、奥尔德梅多JA、桑托斯IM、托勒J、迈克尔·伯特D、杨AW。《认知》，2013年，127卷，105 - 118页）。先前的研究测试了美国和西欧的高级领导人（如精英政治家和业绩顶尖组织的首席执行官）的外貌与领导成就之间的关联。在这里，我们聚焦于中国的组织背景，探讨面部特征归因与中层管理职位任命之间的关联。参与者对一家中国房地产公司男性员工的面部特征在领导力、能力、可信度、吸引力和年龄方面进行了评分。我们的研究结果表明，在中国中层管理的背景下，表面可信度和年龄比能力或吸引力更能预测领导成就。该研究支持三维归因框架，并再次肯定了面部线索在不同文化背景下的领导力选拔中的重要性。
