We can alter our facial features to make us look more trustworthy, but not more competent.
A new study points to both the limits and potential we have in visually representing ourselves—in situations that include dating, career-networking sites, and social media posts.
“Our findings show that facial cues conveying trustworthiness are malleable while facial cues conveying competence and ability are significantly less so,” says Jonathan Freeman, assistant professor of psychology at New York University.
“The results suggest you can influence to an extent how trustworthy others perceive you to be in a facial photo, but perceptions of your competence or ability are considerably less able to be changed.”
Muscles and Bones
The distinction is due to the fact that judgments of trustworthiness are based on the face’s dynamic musculature that can be slightly altered, with a neutral face resembling a happy expression likely to be seen as trustworthy and equally, a neutral face resembling an angry expression likely to be seen as untrustworthy—even when faces aren’t overtly smiling or angered.
But perceptions of ability are drawn from a face’s skeletal structure, which can’t be changed.
For the study, published in the journal Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, researchers conducted four experiments in which female and male subjects examined both photos and computer-generated images of adult men.
