Ella Scott
If it came down to it, do you think you could successfully determine whether or not someone had money in the bank just by looking at their face shape?
Well, the University of Glasgow has proved this is a possible feat, publishing the results of a unique experiment in the APA Journal of Experimental Psychology: General earlier this year.
Their paper, titled ‘Facial features linked to stereotypes and social class perception’ claimed that people are ‘quick to form impressions of other people’s social class standing, which can have important consequences’.
The study was led by a team of researchers at the University’s School of Psychology and Neuroscience.
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It focused on the question: ‘What makes someone appear to be of a higher or lower social class standing (or what makes someone look rich vs. poor), and how these appearances are linked to perceptions of competence, warmth, dominance, and trustworthiness?’
Participants, who were all white from Western cultures, were first tasked with looking at a variety of 3D models of faces.
After becoming familiar with the facial structure, they had to make snap judgements on their wealth and social standing, along with deciding if that person seemed competent, warm, dominant and/or trustworthy.
The study found that faces deemed 'rich' by the participants were considered to be more trustworthy, with chiselled features, raised brows and rosy cheeks among other characteristics.
However, faces that the participants considered as ‘poor’ stereotypically had lowered eyebrows, shorter chins, downturned mouths and cooler skin tones, apparently making them appear ‘cold and untrustworthy’.
Lead author of the study, Dr Thora Bjornsdottir explained these types of judgements solely based on appearance can have long-lasting effects on those individuals.
She said: "People who are perceived to be of high or low social class are also often judged as having advantageous or unfavourable traits, respectively.
"Such judgements are formed even just from facial appearance, and this can have substantial consequences, including disadvantaging those who are perceived to be of lower social class.
"The stereotypes we hold bias our perceptions.
"Our impressions of other people can lead to particular advantages or disadvantages for them."
The University of Glasgow specialists also showed that faces deemed to be more ‘poor-looking’ were more 'infantile' and had rounded features, similar to that of a child's face.
At the same time, faces described as ‘rich’ were allegedly recognised as longer and more defined.
These particular faces often had protruding noses, upturned 'smiley' mouths and high foreheads.
Those surveyed said that these characteristics made them look more dominant, capable and honest.
Professor Rachael Jack, of computational Social Cognition added: "Our research demonstrates how specific facial attributes play a pivotal role in connecting social class perceptions with related stereotypes.
"These findings are not only valuable for advancing our understanding of central social perception theories but could also help with future interventions designed to interrupt biased perceptions."