Personalities Accurately Judged by Physical Appearance Alone

[steven johnson]

Sometimes you can judge a book by it's cover.

ScienceDaily (Dec. 11, 2009) — Observers were able to accurately judge some aspects of a stranger's personality from looking at photographs, according to a study in the current issue of Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin (PSBP), the official monthly journal of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology. Self-esteem, ratings of extraversion and religiosity were correctly judged from physical appearance.

Researchers asked participants to assess the personalities of strangers based first on a photograph posed to the researchers' specifications and then on a photograph posed the way the subject chose. Those judgments were then compared with how the person and acquaintances rated that individual's personality. They found that while both poses provided participants with accurate cues about personality, the spontaneous pose showed more insight, including about the subject's agreeableness, emotional stability, openness, likability, and loneliness.

The study suggested that physical appearance alone can send signals about their true personality.

"As we predicted, physical appearance serves as a channel through which personality is manifested," write authors Laura P. Naumann, University of California, Berkeley, Simine Vazire, Washington University in St. Louis, Peter J. Rentfrow, University of Cambridge, Samuel D. Gosling, University of Texas at Austin. "By using full-body photographs and examining a broad range of traits, we identified domains of accuracy that have been overlooked, leading to the conclusion that physical appearance may play a more important role in personality judgment than previously thought."



Personalities Accurately Judged by Physical Appearance Alone

[Fumesucker]

1. But which is cause and which effect?

I rather imagine that appearance effects personality at least as much as personality effects appearance.

[Birthmark]

3. Abraham Lincoln said...

"Every man over forty is responsible for his face." :)

[Tutankhamun]

4. I agree. Personality is shaped, in large part, by the way others treat us.

the way others treat us is shaped, in large part, by the way we look.

[Venceremos]

2. I can see many ways

this study could have produced false results.

My husband is an introvert but I perused the web site and found that the way he naturally poses in photos would be rated by observers as extravert. In addition, when he was growing up being introverted was looked down upon by his family, so he learned to pretend he was an extravert to the point that he can "fool" a personality test. My sister is the same way - she's adept at projecting an image of high self esteem but in reality she has very low self esteem. And I won't continue to bore you, but I've known many other people adept at projecting an image that is the opposite of their true personality.

So I'm wondering how the researchers accurately determined the personality traits of the people in the photos. Did they personally know them? Did they give them a personality test? Or did they just rely on them to provide an unbiased description of their personality?

[caraher]

5. Was David Byrne involved in the study?

Talking Heads - Seen and Not Seen

He would see faces in movies, on T.V., in magazines, and in books....
He thought that some of these faces might be right for him....
And through the years, by keeping an ideal facial structure fixed in his mind....
Or somewhere in the back of his mind....
That he might, by force of will, cause his face to approach those of his ideal....
The change would be very subtle....
It might take ten years or so....
Gradually his face would change its shape....
A more hooked nose...
Wider, thinner lips....
Beady eyes....
A larger forehead.

He imagined that this was an ability he shared with most other people....
They had also molded their faced according to some ideal....
Maybe they imagined that their new face would better suit their personality....
Or maybe they imagined that their personality would be forced to change to fit the new appearance....
This is why first impressions are often correct...
Although some people might have made mistakes....
They may have arrived at an appearance that bears no relationship to them....
They may have picked an ideal appearance based on some childish whim, or momentary impulse....
Some may have gotten half-way there, and then changed their minds.

He wonders if he too might have made a similar mistake.

[Orrex]

6. I really need to schedule an appointment with my phrenologist