Chapter 37 It would be nice if the face fits

Height isn't the only fancy factor that affects the way we see other people. In the past, we had more hair than we do now.When we were apes, our faces and bodies were covered with thick hair.However, after tens of thousands of years of evolution, most of our hair has faded.There is still considerable controversy as to why this is the case.Some researchers think that's because we gradually left the shady forests and ventured into the warm savannahs, so we no longer needed as much hair to keep us warm.Other researchers believe that the loss of body and facial hair is an attempt to reduce the chances of breeding lice and parasites that spread disease.In any case, some people have chosen to reverse the results of evolution and begin to develop various types of facial hair.However, doing so has unconsciously changed the perception and perception of them by those around them.

In 1973, psychologist Roberto Pellegrini studied the effect of facial hair on personality perception.He managed to find eight young men who were willing to shave their beards off in the name of science.Pellegrini took a picture of each of them before the barber did his beard.Next, another photo was taken when all that remained of their faces was the goatee and mustache, another photo when only the mustache remained, and finally another photo after the beard was completely shaved.Pellegrini asked randomly selected groups of people to rate the personalities of the people in different photographs.It turned out that the more beards, the more likely people were to use adjectives such as masculine, mature, superior, confident and brave to describe the personality of the person in the photo."Perhaps inside every clean-shaven man there is a beard that screams to pop out. If so, the results of the current study provide a strong rationale for this need," said Pellegrini. ."

Pellegrini's research can be said to be quite in-depth, but he forgot to ask about a very important quality: honesty.If he had asked, he might not have drawn such a positive conclusion.Recent surveys show that more than 50% of Westerners believe that men without beards are more honest and reliable than men with beards.Apparently, beards are associated with impure motives, cover-ups and poor hygiene.While having a beard or not has absolutely nothing to do with being honest, the stereotype about beards has a huge impact around the world.Perhaps that's why none of the Forbes top 100 richest people has a beard, and none of the winning candidates for the U.S. presidency since 1910.

Psychologists have done a lot of research on the influence of facial features on personality and perception of ability, and research on beards is only a small aspect of it. Recently, Alexander Todorov of Princeton University and his colleagues published a study claiming that facial features play a very critical role in people's political careers.Todorov had students look at black-and-white headshots of the winners and losers of the 2000, 2002, and 2004 U.S. Senate elections.Todorov asked the students, for each group of photos, to indicate which one of them was more qualified to be a senator.Although the students only glanced at the photos briefly, their choices matched the actual election results as much as 70 percent of the time.Not only that, but the degree of difference in students' opinions can also predict the election results more accurately.If a majority of the students agree that a certain person in a certain group of photos looks the most competent, then that person is clearly the one who won the election.If there are large differences in students' views, it is unlikely to accurately reflect the actual election results.

If people's stereotypes about facial features can affect votes at the ballot box, are there other scenarios where facial features matter?For example, does this stereotype affect how people convict defendants in court? So tell the jury, does this look like the face of a cold-blooded killer?