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Social Context Modulates Perceptions of Facial Attractiveness

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Social Context Modulates Perceptions of Facial Attractiveness Social Perception in Group Scenes: Social context modulates perceptions of facial attractiveness Daniel J. Carragher (B. Psych Hons) A dissertation presented to the College of Education, Psychology, and Social Work of Flinders University for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the field of Psychology 19th December 2018 ii Table of Contents Thesis Summary .......................................................................................................................................... v Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................................... vii Declaration ................................................................................................................................................ viii Author Note ................................................................................................................................................ x Chapter 1: First Impressions of Faces ..................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Introduction Overview ................................................................................................................... 1 1.2 First Impressions .............................................................................................................................. 2 1.3 Trustworthiness ................................................................................................................................ 6 1.4 Attractiveness ................................................................................................................................. 10 1.5 Attractiveness in Group Scenes ................................................................................................... 14 1.6 Summary .......................................................................................................................................... 19 Chapter 2: Ensemble Perception ............................................................................................................ 20 2.1 Complex Visual Scenes ................................................................................................................. 20 2.2 Low-Level Stimuli .......................................................................................................................... 21 2.3 Ensemble Coding of Faces ........................................................................................................... 24 2.4 The Hierarchical Structure of Visual Working Memory .......................................................... 34 2.5 The Cheerleader Effect ................................................................................................................. 36 2.6 Current Aims .................................................................................................................................. 39 Chapter 3: Is Trustworthiness Lateralised in the Face? ...................................................................... 40 Introduction .......................................................................................................................................... 42 Experiment 1 ......................................................................................................................................... 46 iii Experiment 2 ......................................................................................................................................... 52 General Discussion .............................................................................................................................. 55 Chapter 4: Do Visuospatial Asymmetries Modulate The Cheerleader Effect? ............................... 61 Introduction .......................................................................................................................................... 63 Experiment 1 ......................................................................................................................................... 68 Experiment 2 ......................................................................................................................................... 74 General Discussion .............................................................................................................................. 78 Chapter 5: Does The Cheerleader Effect occur for Trustworthiness? ............................................. 82 Introduction .......................................................................................................................................... 84 Experiment 1 ......................................................................................................................................... 88 Experiment 2 ......................................................................................................................................... 96 Experiment 3 ....................................................................................................................................... 103 General Discussion ............................................................................................................................ 118 Chapter 6: Does Hierarchical Encoding Cause The Cheerleader Effect? ...................................... 125 Introduction ........................................................................................................................................ 127 Experiment 1 ....................................................................................................................................... 131 Experiment 2 ....................................................................................................................................... 140 Experiment 3 ....................................................................................................................................... 145 Experiment 4 ....................................................................................................................................... 149 Experiment 5 ....................................................................................................................................... 154 Cheerleader Effect Meta-Analysis .................................................................................................... 159 General Discussion ............................................................................................................................ 161 iv Chapter 7: General Discussion ............................................................................................................. 168 7.1 Summary ........................................................................................................................................ 168 7.2 Hierarchical Encoding and The Cheerleader Effect ............................................................... 170 7.3 Mate Choice Copying, Social Desirability and The Cheerleader Effect .............................. 173 7.4 Could Two Mechanisms Contribute to The Cheerleader Effect? ........................................ 176 7.4.1 Sample Size Bias and Ensemble Amplification ............................................................... 177 7.4.2 Attentional Cueing ............................................................................................................... 179 7.5 Measuring The Cheerleader Effect with a Hierarchical Encoding Paradigm ..................... 181 7.6 Outstanding Questions and Future Directions ....................................................................... 187 7.6.1 Are The Cheerleader Effect and The Group Attractiveness Effect Related? ............. 187 7.6.2 Negative Trait Judgments ................................................................................................... 189 7.6.3 Sex Differences ..................................................................................................................... 190 7.6.4 A Social Attractiveness Halo .............................................................................................. 191 7.7 Concluding Remarks ................................................................................................................... 192 References ........................................................................................................................................... 194 v Thesis Summary Despite the cautionary reminder to never “judge a book by its cover”, we regularly judge others based upon their facial appearance. Far from meaning that we are all terribly judgmental, these trait impressions occur automatically. Even though they are often not accurate, the trait judgments that we make about others can influence our own decision making. The candidate with the more “competent” face wins approximately 70% of national elections, and criminals with “untrustworthy” faces receive longer prison sentences for the same crimes than those with “trustworthy” faces. Trait impressions have been the focus of research in the field of social perception since the earliest days of experimental psychology. While these studies have undoubtedly improved our understanding of the way that trait judgments are made from faces, the vast majority of these studies have been conducted by presenting observers with a single face at a time. However, we often meet people for the first time when they are surrounded
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