The research, detailed in a Huffington Post article, included the work of Dartmouth’s Bradley Duchaine, an associate professor of psychological and brain sciences. Participants in the study were shown pictures of “trustworthy” and “untrustworthy” versions of the same 20 people. As Duchaine explained, “The untrustworthy faces had squinty eyes and downturned mouths more reminiscent of anger.”
According to the article, the study’s participants were asked to select the faces of the people who they would invest their money with. According to the study, participants invested 42 percent more money with those who had “trustworthy” faces.
While avoiding face-to-face interaction might prevent a person from making uninformed decisions based solely on how a person looks, Duchaine argues that there is still value to meeting potential financial partners in person. “Although little evidence suggests facial structure indicates how trustworthy someone is, other sources of information about a person such as their body language and speech probably do convey valid information,“ Duchaine told the Huffington Post.
Read the full story, published 5/17/12 by the Huffington Post.
