Most of us tend to draw firm conclusions about someone’s personality based on facial appearance alone. Yes, no matter how smart, original and charismatic you are, there will always be someone who will judge you by your eyes, nose, mouth, hair, face. We all do this unconsciously, but according to various recent studies, some draw faster and more stubborn conclusions from facial features than others.

And that becomes a problem. Especially if these are the people responsible for hiring in companies and it is their decisions that can change people’s lives.

Study. Recent research by Japanese psychologists published in the Royal Society currently concludes that there is “an exaggerated influence of facial features on social decision-making.” That is, we judge people harshly at first glance. In a series of experiments involving more than 300 participants, Atsunobu Suzuki and colleagues found what they call “facial feature inferences” (FBTIs).

Basically, subjects ranked people and made a series of judgments about people based on their physical appearance. While all of them are, the study authors found some to be more extreme (whether the judgment is positive or negative). And this was true even when controlling for participants’ age, gender, and ethnicity.

Why is that? First impressions have a psychological function. Professor Alexander Todorov explains in his book Face value: Irresistible First Impression Effect He says that in the history of evolution, humans did not need to use their physical appearance to judge their fellows: “People used to live in extended families and not associate with over 100 people.

But a cognitive problem arises when we start living in big cities where space is shared with millions of strangers, as there is no clue to know what a stranger looks like. “Facial features became that clue,” explains Todorov.

Problems. Making hasty decisions can unfortunately also lead to stereotyping. For example, thinking that people with a certain physical trait must all be the same. And even worse: These first impressions are hard to change. “Happy, feminine faces tend to be perceived as more trustworthy than tough, masculine-looking faces,” the authors write. your lips.

It’s a factor in getting a job. Various studies throughout history have highlighted that this unconscious bias persists in the hiring decision-making process. A 2018 study sent two versions of nearly identical resumes to apply for jobs. The only difference was the name: Adam Smith on one, Ravindra Thalwal on the other. Ravindra got half of the responses compared to the English name.

And it also works for handsome men and women, who tend to be more recruited because of the “halo effect,” something that’s picked up in other studies. “Attractive faces are perceived as desirable and are often immediately assigned attributes of credibility and competence.”

In politics, it’s the opposite. A study published in the journal Science in 2005 showed that it is possible to predict the outcome of an election using instant judgments about candidates’ faces. And not only that. There’s also the reverse: First impressions on foreigners’ faces are heavily influenced by political partisanship.

A study published in PLOS ONE reveals that knowing your political affiliation has a significant impact on how your appearance is perceived when it comes to dating. And he suggests that first impressions are influenced by these political choices. According to the research, sympathy on the face increases when political affiliation overlaps. Conversely, likeability decreased when the membership did not match.

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