Accuracy in Facial Trustworthiness Impressions: Kernel of Truth or Modern Physiognomy? A Meta-Analysis

Y. Z. Foo; C. A.M. Sutherland; N. S. Burton; S. Nakagawa; G. Rhodes

doi:10.1177/01461672211048110

Accuracy in Facial Trustworthiness Impressions: Kernel of Truth or Modern Physiognomy? A Meta-Analysis

Y. Z. Foo^*, C. A.M. Sutherland, N. S. Burton, S. Nakagawa, G. Rhodes

^*Corresponding author for this work

Psychology

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

19 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Being able to identify trustworthy strangers is a critical social skill. However, whether such impressions are accurate is debatable. Critically, the field currently lacks a quantitative summary of the evidence. To address this gap, we conducted two meta-analyses. We tested whether there is a correlation between perceived and actual trustworthiness across faces, and whether perceivers show above-chance accuracy at assessing trustworthiness. Both meta-analyses revealed significant, modest accuracy (face level, r =.14; perceiver level, r =.27). Perceiver-level effects depended on domain, with aggressiveness and sexual unfaithfulness having stronger effects than agreeableness, criminality, financial reciprocity, and honesty. We also applied research weaving to map the literature, revealing potential biases, including a preponderance of Western studies, a lack of “cross-talk” between research groups, and clarity issues. Overall, this modest accuracy is unlikely to be of practical utility. Moreover, we strongly urge the field to improve reporting standards and generalizability of the results.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1580-1596
Number of pages	17
Journal	Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin
Volume	48
Issue number	11
Early online date	5 Oct 2021
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1177/01461672211048110
Publication status	Published - Nov 2022

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
We thank the Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery Early Career Research Award to C.A.M.S. [DE190101043], and an ARC Discovery Award to G.R. and C.A.M.S. [DP170104602], and an Australian Government Endeavour Research Fellowship to Y.Z.F. [ERF_Pdr_6537_2018], and an Early Career Research Visit Award from the School of Psychology, University of Aberdeen, to Y.Z.F.. The funders had no influence on the research. We thank the original study authors for providing data on request.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 by the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Inc.

Keywords

accuracy
face perception
meta-analysis
research weaving
trustworthiness

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10.1177/01461672211048110

Cite this

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title = "Accuracy in Facial Trustworthiness Impressions: Kernel of Truth or Modern Physiognomy? A Meta-Analysis",

abstract = "Being able to identify trustworthy strangers is a critical social skill. However, whether such impressions are accurate is debatable. Critically, the field currently lacks a quantitative summary of the evidence. To address this gap, we conducted two meta-analyses. We tested whether there is a correlation between perceived and actual trustworthiness across faces, and whether perceivers show above-chance accuracy at assessing trustworthiness. Both meta-analyses revealed significant, modest accuracy (face level, r =.14; perceiver level, r =.27). Perceiver-level effects depended on domain, with aggressiveness and sexual unfaithfulness having stronger effects than agreeableness, criminality, financial reciprocity, and honesty. We also applied research weaving to map the literature, revealing potential biases, including a preponderance of Western studies, a lack of “cross-talk” between research groups, and clarity issues. Overall, this modest accuracy is unlikely to be of practical utility. Moreover, we strongly urge the field to improve reporting standards and generalizability of the results.",

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note = "Funding Information: We thank the Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery Early Career Research Award to C.A.M.S. [DE190101043], and an ARC Discovery Award to G.R. and C.A.M.S. [DP170104602], and an Australian Government Endeavour Research Fellowship to Y.Z.F. [ERF_Pdr_6537_2018], and an Early Career Research Visit Award from the School of Psychology, University of Aberdeen, to Y.Z.F.. The funders had no influence on the research. We thank the original study authors for providing data on request. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2021 by the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Inc.",

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N2 - Being able to identify trustworthy strangers is a critical social skill. However, whether such impressions are accurate is debatable. Critically, the field currently lacks a quantitative summary of the evidence. To address this gap, we conducted two meta-analyses. We tested whether there is a correlation between perceived and actual trustworthiness across faces, and whether perceivers show above-chance accuracy at assessing trustworthiness. Both meta-analyses revealed significant, modest accuracy (face level, r =.14; perceiver level, r =.27). Perceiver-level effects depended on domain, with aggressiveness and sexual unfaithfulness having stronger effects than agreeableness, criminality, financial reciprocity, and honesty. We also applied research weaving to map the literature, revealing potential biases, including a preponderance of Western studies, a lack of “cross-talk” between research groups, and clarity issues. Overall, this modest accuracy is unlikely to be of practical utility. Moreover, we strongly urge the field to improve reporting standards and generalizability of the results.

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Accuracy in Facial Trustworthiness Impressions: Kernel of Truth or Modern Physiognomy? A Meta-Analysis

Abstract

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Keywords

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