Nicholas Rule / en Mafia face: U of T research on what mugshots of gangsters and lawyers reveal about how we choose leaders /news/mafia-face-u-t-research-what-mugshots-gangsters-and-lawyers-reveal-about-how-we-choose-leaders <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Mafia face: U of T research on what mugshots of gangsters and lawyers reveal about how we choose leaders</span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="eager" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2017-08-04-GETTY-al-capone-sized.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=BC6RNfn2 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/2017-08-04-GETTY-al-capone-sized.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=FnjcWhk3 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/2017-08-04-GETTY-al-capone-sized.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=bp-tM1lJ 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="740" height="494" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2017-08-04-GETTY-al-capone-sized.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=BC6RNfn2" alt="mug shot of Al Capone"> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>geoff.vendeville</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2017-08-09T14:35:33-04:00" title="Wednesday, August 9, 2017 - 14:35" class="datetime">Wed, 08/09/2017 - 14:35</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item">One of America's most notorious gangsters, Al Capone, poses for a mugshot on his arrival at the Federal Penitentiary at Alcatraz in 1934 (photo by Donaldson Collection/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/geoffrey-vendeville" hreflang="en">Geoffrey Vendeville</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-legacy field--type-string field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Author legacy</div> <div class="field__item">Geoffrey Vendeville</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/global-lens" hreflang="en">Global Lens</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/psychology" hreflang="en">Psychology</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/faculty-arts-science" hreflang="en">Faculty of Arts &amp; Science</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/nicholas-rule" hreflang="en">Nicholas Rule</a></div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Here's a new take on the link between facial features and leadership: a&nbsp;U of T study&nbsp;examines U.S. law firms and the&nbsp;less reputable world of&nbsp;organized crime.&nbsp;</p> <p><img alt="Daniel Re photo" class="media-image attr__typeof__foaf:Image img__fid__5419 img__view_mode__media_original attr__format__media_original" src="/sites/default/files/Daniel%20Re.jpg" style="width: 200px; height: 200px; margin: 10px 20px; float: left;" typeof="foaf:Image"></p> <p>The study finds that among lawyers, more rugged features like a square jaw conferred an advantage over softer features like a small chin, which denotes friendliness and approachability.&nbsp;</p> <p>But among gangsters, where powerful features are the norm, softer characteristics like bigger eyes or baby cheeks were beneficial, the findings suggest.</p> <p>So in&nbsp;Al Capone’s case, his legendary cheek scar may have helped his tough guy appearance, but it was actually his round eyes and pudgy cheeks that made him stand out as a leader, speculates <strong>Daniel Re</strong>, the lead author of the study published in <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0146167217712989"><em>Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin</em></a>.</p> <p>“I was watching <em>The Sopranos,</em> and it got me thinking – research had been done on lawyers already, but I thought nobody (looks at) lower status working groups,” said Re, who until recently was working as a post-doctoral researcher with U of T's <strong>Nicholas Rule</strong>, the Canada Research Chair in Social Perception and Cognition.&nbsp;</p> <p>“It’s always business CEOs, politicians. I got to thinking that perhaps power traits aren’t as great for construction workers and Mafia members.”&nbsp;</p> <p>Re's work with&nbsp;Rule, an associate professor of psychology in the Faculty of Arts &amp; Science, supports the notion that distinct facial features influence who is chosen as a leader.&nbsp;</p> <p>The research&nbsp;was based on separate experiments in which they asked dozens of U.S. residents to rate the headshots of law executives and members of New York’s five major mob families. The participants assessed the faces online with criteria like trustworthiness, competence and dominance.&nbsp;</p> <p>Re, who is now working as a data scientist at Manulife,&nbsp;says the research has limitations since the same biases may not apply to people of different races, cultures or genders.&nbsp;Nevertheless, it exposes the preconceptions that can sway decisions, he says.</p> <p>Appearance isn’t everything, but “if you consider your environment, you might be able to play into the stereotypes that would lead you to an advantage,” he says.</p> <p>And by being aware of these biases, people can begin to overcome them, he adds.&nbsp;</p> <p>“Part of this research is supposed to show that we are all suspect to bias in appearance when maybe we shouldn’t be.”&nbsp;</p> <h3><a href="/news/first-impressions-u-t-study-says-faces-reveal-whether-we-re-rich-or-poor">Read about Rule's research on facial characteristics</a></h3> <h3><a href="http://www.macleans.ca/society/do-you-have-resting-poor-face/">Read more about Rule's research on resting poor face</a></h3> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Wed, 09 Aug 2017 18:35:33 +0000 geoff.vendeville 111592 at First impressions: U of T study says faces reveal whether we’re rich or poor /news/first-impressions-u-t-study-says-faces-reveal-whether-we-re-rich-or-poor <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">First impressions: U of T study says faces reveal whether we’re rich or poor</span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="eager" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2017-07-05-faces.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=1P2FUo8z 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/2017-07-05-faces.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=e-r7wLit 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/2017-07-05-faces.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=sNyHgIkJ 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="740" height="494" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2017-07-05-faces.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=1P2FUo8z" alt> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>ullahnor</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2017-07-05T12:27:16-04:00" title="Wednesday, July 5, 2017 - 12:27" class="datetime">Wed, 07/05/2017 - 12:27</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item">A U of T study says that your face reveals whether you're rich or poor (photo credit: ©iStock.com | LeoPatrizi)</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/peter-boisseau" hreflang="en">Peter Boisseau</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-legacy field--type-string field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Author legacy</div> <div class="field__item">Peter Boisseau</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/global-lens" hreflang="en">Global Lens</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/faculty-arts-science" hreflang="en">Faculty of Arts &amp; Science</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/nicholas-rule" hreflang="en">Nicholas Rule</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/psychology" hreflang="en">Psychology</a></div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>In a new twist on first impressions, a U of T&nbsp;study finds that people can reliably tell if individuals are rich&nbsp;or poor&nbsp;just by looking at their&nbsp;face.</p> <p>People then use those impressions in biased ways –&nbsp;judging the rich faces as ones to hire for jobs rather than the poor ones, says Associate Professor <strong>Nicholas Rule</strong> and graduate student <strong>Thora Bjornsdottir&nbsp;</strong>of the Faculty of Arts &amp; Science, who recently&nbsp;<a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/317252320_The_Visibility_of_Social_Class_From_Facial_Cues">published an article on the findings</a>&nbsp;in the <em>Journal of Personality and Social Psychology</em>.</p> <p>“It indicates that something as subtle as the signals in your face about your social class can actually then perpetuate it,” says Bjornsdottir. “Those first impressions can become a sort of self-fulfilling prophecy. It’s going to influence your interactions, and the opportunities you have.”</p> <h4>Showing emotion will mask the clues</h4> <p>Just as interestingly, the researchers found the ability to read a person’s social class only applies to their neutral,&nbsp;expressionless face,&nbsp;and not when people are smiling or showing&nbsp;emotions.</p> <p>Their conclusion is that emotions mask lifelong habits of expression that become etched on a person’s face even by their late teens or early adulthood, such as frequent happiness, which is stereotypically associated with being wealthy and satisfied.</p> <p>“Over time, your face comes to permanently reflect and reveal your experiences,” says Rule. “Even when we think we’re not expressing something, relics of those emotions are still there.”</p> <p>Using an annual median family income of about $75,000 as a benchmark, the researchers grouped student volunteers into those with total family incomes under $60,000 or above $100,000 and then had them pose for photos with neutral faces devoid of expression.</p> <p>They then asked a separate group of participants to look at the photos and, using nothing but their gut instinct&nbsp;decide which ones were “rich or poor” just by looking at the faces. They were able to determine which student belonged to the rich or poor group at a level that researchers say exceeds random chance.</p> <p>“What we’re seeing is students who are just 18-22 years old have already accumulated enough life experience that it has visibly changed and shaped their face to the point you can tell what their socio-economic standing or social class is,” says Rule.</p> <h4>Facial recognition is hard-wired in the brain</h4> <p>The results were not affected by the race or gender of the face or how much time people were given to study them. All of which is consistent with what is known about nonverbal behaviour.</p> <p>“There are neurons in the brain that specialize in facial recognition. The face is the first thing you notice when you look at somebody,” says Rule. “We see faces in clouds, we see faces in toast. We are sort of hardwired to look for face-like stimuli. And this is something people pick up very quickly. And they are consistent, which is what makes it statistically significant.”</p> <p>“People are not really aware of what cues they are using when they make these judgments,” says Bjornsdottir.</p> <p>“If you ask them why, they don’t know. They are not aware of how they are doing this.”</p> <h4>For social psychologists, the face is the place</h4> <p>The study of social classes as an undercurrent in psychology and behaviour is getting more recognition, says Rule. And with 43 muscles concentrated in a relatively small area, facial cues are one of the most intriguing areas in this field.</p> <p>“People talk about the cycle of poverty, and this is potentially one contributor to that.”</p> <p>He says the next step might be to study older age groups to see if the patterns of facial cues become even more apparent to people over time.</p> <h3><a href="/news/u-t-study-probes-police-shootings-unarmed-black-men-looking-how-we-perceive-size-race">Read more about&nbsp;Rule's research</a></h3> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Wed, 05 Jul 2017 16:27:16 +0000 ullahnor 109446 at U of T study probes police shootings of unarmed black men by looking at how we perceive size by race /news/u-t-study-probes-police-shootings-unarmed-black-men-looking-how-we-perceive-size-race <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">U of T study probes police shootings of unarmed black men by looking at how we perceive size by race</span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="eager" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2017-03-14-police-shooting.jpg?h=2fe880c3&amp;itok=xWNo1xL0 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/2017-03-14-police-shooting.jpg?h=2fe880c3&amp;itok=ovur7GE1 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/2017-03-14-police-shooting.jpg?h=2fe880c3&amp;itok=2wm_6jLV 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="740" height="494" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2017-03-14-police-shooting.jpg?h=2fe880c3&amp;itok=xWNo1xL0" alt="ferguson protest"> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>ullahnor</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2017-03-14T16:49:31-04:00" title="Tuesday, March 14, 2017 - 16:49" class="datetime">Tue, 03/14/2017 - 16:49</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item">Protesters against police shootings have stood up in support of unarmed victims of police killings like Michael Brown who was shot to death in Ferguson, Mo., in 2014 (photo by Joe Brusky via Flickr) </div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/city-culture" hreflang="en">City &amp; Culture</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/police-shooting" hreflang="en">Police Shooting</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/racial-profiling" hreflang="en">Racial Profiling</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/psychology" hreflang="en">Psychology</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/race" hreflang="en">Race</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/faculty-arts-science" hreflang="en">Faculty of Arts &amp; Science</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/nicholas-rule" hreflang="en">Nicholas Rule</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-subheadline field--type-string-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Subheadline</div> <div class="field__item">The study says police shooting are often accompanied by explanations that cite the physical size of the person shot, and that people see black men as larger and more threatening</div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>According to ؿζSM research, people have a tendency to perceive black men as larger and more threatening than similarly-sized white men.</p> <p>In a paper published by the <em>American Psychological Association,</em> entitled <a href="http://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/releases/psp-pspi0000092.pdf">“Racial Bias in Judgments of Physical Size and Formidability: From Size to Threat,”</a>&nbsp;researchers say that unarmed black men are disproportionately more likely to be shot and killed by police and that these killings are often accompanied by explanations that cite the physical size of the person shot.</p> <p>“Our findings suggest that people’s stereotypes distort their vision, leading them to literally see black men as larger than white men even when they are exactly the same size,” said <strong>Nicholas Rule</strong>, an associate professor of psychology in the Faculty of Arts &amp; Science.</p> <h3><a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/black-men-perceived-stronger-threatening-1.4022277">Read more at CBC News</a></h3> <p>Rule worked&nbsp;on&nbsp;the study with <strong>John Paul Wilson</strong>, a former U of T post-doctoral researcher&nbsp;now at Montclair State University, and Kurt Hugenberg of Miami University. &nbsp;</p> <p><img alt class="media-image attr__typeof__foaf:Image img__fid__3801 img__view_mode__media_original attr__format__media_original" src="/sites/default/files/men%20fw%20%282%29.png" style="width: 493px; height: 217px; margin: 10px; float: left;" typeof="foaf:Image">The researchers conducted a series of experiments involving more than 950 online participants –&nbsp;all from the United States –&nbsp;in which people were shown a series of colour photographs of the white and black male faces of individuals who were all of equal height and weight (photo at left of body muscularity array used in the research). The participants were then asked to estimate the height, weight, strength and overall muscularity of the men pictured.</p> <p>“We found that these estimates were consistently biased. Participants judged the black men to be larger, stronger and more muscular than the white men, even though they were actually the same size,” said Wilson, the study’s lead author. “Participants also believed that the black men were more capable of causing harm in a hypothetical altercation, and&nbsp;troublingly&nbsp;that police would be more justified in using force to subdue them, even if the men were unarmed.”</p> <h3><a href="https://www.vice.com/en_ca/article/americans-see-black-men-as-larger-than-they-really-are-study-finds-vgtrn">Read the Vice story</a></h3> <p>The researchers found that even black participants displayed this bias, but while they judged young black men to be more muscular than young white men, they did not judge them to be more harmful or deserving of force.</p> <p>In one experiment, where participants were shown identically sized bodies labelled either black or white, they were more likely to describe the black ones as taller and heavier. In another, the size bias was most pronounced for the men whose facial features looked the most stereotypically black.</p> <p>“We found that men with darker skin and more stereotypically black facial features tended to be most likely to elicit biased-size perceptions, even though they were actually no larger than men with lighter skin and less stereotypical facial features,” said Wilson. “Thus, the size bias doesn’t rely just on a white-versus-black group boundary. It also varies within black men according to their facial features.”</p> <p>Black men are disproportionately more likely to be killed in interactions with police, even when unarmed, according to Wilson, and this research suggests that misperceptions of black men’s body size might be one contributor to police decisions to shoot.</p> <p>But, he cautioned, the studies do not simulate real-world threat scenarios like those facing actual police officers.</p> <p>“Knowing about these biases gives us the opportunity to monitor ourselves and overcome them,” said Rule. “But because law enforcement personnel have to make such quick decisions under extreme stress, they need to rely on their instincts more than most people. We need to better understand how that stress affects these misperceptions to figure out effective strategies to help officers, and the people they protect.”</p> <p>The research was published in the <em>Journal of Personality and Social Psychology</em>. Previous research, also published in this journal, suggested that people view younger black men as older and less innocent than similarly-aged white boys, and that training and experience can help police overcome racial bias in shoot-don’t shoot scenarios.</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Tue, 14 Mar 2017 20:49:31 +0000 ullahnor 105783 at Looking for a non-profit CEO? Choose a teddy bear, not a shark: ؿζSM study /news/looking-non-profit-ceo-choose-teddy-bear-not-shark-university-toronto-study <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Looking for a non-profit CEO? Choose a teddy bear, not a shark: ؿζSM study</span> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>krisha</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2016-06-22T10:39:43-04:00" title="Wednesday, June 22, 2016 - 10:39" class="datetime">Wed, 06/22/2016 - 10:39</time> </span> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/peter-mcmahon" hreflang="en">Peter McMahon</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-legacy field--type-string field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Author legacy</div> <div class="field__item">Peter McMahon</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/breaking-research" hreflang="en">Breaking Research</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/psychology" hreflang="en">Psychology</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/research-innovation-faculty-arts-science" hreflang="en">Research &amp; Innovation. Faculty of Arts &amp; Science</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/nicholas-rule" hreflang="en">Nicholas Rule</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-subheadline field--type-string-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Subheadline</div> <div class="field__item">Not-for-profits raise more money when leader looks less powerful, research finds</div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Having the face of a leader may depend on whether the enterprise being led is a for-profit business or a non-profit organization, new research from the ؿζSM has found.</p> <p>It's the latest finding by the social perception and cognition&nbsp;experts who've advised us on:</p> <p><a href="/news/can-you-tell-trustworthy-untrustworthy-face-answer-will-surprise-you">how to tell a trustworthy face from an untrustworthy face</a></p> <p><a href="/news/losing-weight-can-make-you-more-attractive-experts-say-%E2%80%93-theres-catch">how much weight we'd need to lose to seem more attractive to others</a>&nbsp;</p> <p><a href="/news/drop-selfie-stick-you-may-be-vainer-you-think">what our selfie habits reveal about us</a>&nbsp;</p> <p>In a paper entitled “Predicting Firm Success from the Facial Appearance of Chief Executive Officers of Non-Profit Organizations,” published in the journal <a href="http://pec.sagepub.com/content/early/2016/06/20/0301006616652043.full.pdf+html"><em>Perception</em></a>,&nbsp;<a href="http://danieledwardre.wix.com/daniel-re"><strong>Daniel Re</strong></a>, a postdoctoral fellow and <a href="http://psych.utoronto.ca/users/rule/people.html"><strong>Nicholas Rule</strong></a>, an associate professor of <a href="http://home.psych.utoronto.ca/">psychology</a>, report on three separate studies that suggest the facial features of successful non-profit CEOs are noticeably different from leaders of for-profit companies.</p> <h2>Power and charity don't mix</h2> <p>For the first study, Re, Rule and team showed images of the faces of many of the CEOs of the 100 highest-revenue non-profit organizations – or NPOs – as listed by <em>Forbes </em>for 2009, 2010 and 2011.</p> <p>A group of 169 participants were shown closely-cropped black and white photos of CEO faces – but not told they were CEOs – and asked to rate them on dominance, likability, facial maturity, and trustworthiness, as well as leadership, age, attractiveness, and happiness.</p> <p>The researchers then grouped some of the scores together, combining dominance and facial maturity into a score they called 'power', for example, as well as grouping trustworthiness and likability into a score they labelled 'warmth'.</p> <p>They found that the non-profit CEO faces that the participants saw as having high 'power' scores tended to have lower total revenue, funding from private sources, and fundraising efficiency for their organizations than non-profits with CEOs that ranked lower on the power index.</p> <p>"The results were actually much more dramatic than I would have thought," says Re. "Previous studies have shown that CEOs who appear dominant seem to do well when it comes to generating wealth. But for NPOs, we found the opposite."</p> <h2>Sharks vs teddy bears</h2> <p>Re and Rule also had a group of participants look at the faces of CEOs of <em>profit-based</em> businesses. The participants’ scores suggested that the CEOs of successful for-profit companies look more powerful than the CEOs of NPOs.</p> <p>This seems to support the results of previous studies that have suggested facial cues of power signal real dominance, aggression, and selfishness, and that people who display these facial cues may enjoy greater success as leaders of companies where the main goal is personal gain and stakeholder wealth.</p> <h2>A new view of non-profit leadership</h2> <p>"Even though the most successful CEOs of for-profit businesses might be these cut-throat, intense sharks, that's not necessarily the key to good leadership across-the-board," says Re.</p> <p>"What we seem to have found is that people who come off as more powerful won't get as far or do as well working at non-profits," says Re. "It's not necessarily that non-profits are picking softer-looking people, it's that such people – perhaps drawn to working for a nobler cause – are likely the ones who have gotten ahead and risen through the ranks throughout their career in the non-profit industry."</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Wed, 22 Jun 2016 14:39:43 +0000 krisha 14395 at Losing weight can make you more attractive, experts say – but there's a catch /news/losing-weight-can-make-you-more-attractive-experts-say-%E2%80%93-theres-catch <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Losing weight can make you more attractive, experts say – but there's a catch</span> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>sgupta</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2015-12-03T07:02:22-05:00" title="Thursday, December 3, 2015 - 07:02" class="datetime">Thu, 12/03/2015 - 07:02</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item">“When it comes to incentives for weight loss, some people are more motivated to look attractive than to improve their health,” Daniel Re said (photo by Allan Foster via Flickr)</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/sean-bettam" hreflang="en">Sean Bettam</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-legacy field--type-string field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Author legacy</div> <div class="field__item">Sean Bettam</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/breaking-research" hreflang="en">Breaking Research</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/top-stories" hreflang="en">Top Stories</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/psychology" hreflang="en">Psychology</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/health" hreflang="en">Health</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/faculty-arts-science" hreflang="en">Faculty of Arts &amp; Science</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/diet" hreflang="en">Diet</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/research" hreflang="en">Research</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/nicholas-rule" hreflang="en">Nicholas Rule</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-subheadline field--type-string-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Subheadline</div> <div class="field__item">Study reveals a noticeably thinner face is the key so be prepared to drop 14 to 18 pounds</div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Researchers at the ؿζSM have determined the amount of weight people need to gain or lose before others notice or find them more attractive&nbsp;– based on the way their faces look.</p> <p>“Women and men of average height need to gain or lose about three and a half and four kilograms, or about eight and nine pounds, respectively, for anyone to see it in their face,” said <strong>Nicholas Rule</strong>, associate professor in the Faculty of Arts &amp; Science and Canada Research Chair in Social Perception and Cognition.</p> <p>“But they need to lose about twice as much for anyone to find them more attractive.”</p> <p>Rule and postdoctoral fellow <strong>Daniel Re</strong> looked at facial adiposity –&nbsp;the perception of weight in the face –&nbsp;because it is an accurate indicator of a person’s body mass index (BMI), which is calculated as a person’s weight in kilograms divided by the square of the person’s height in metres (kg/m2).</p> <p>“It is a robust indicator of one’s health,” said Rule. “Increased facial adiposity is associated with a compromised immune system, poor cardiovascular function, frequent respiratory infections, and mortality. So, even a small decrease can improve one’s health.”</p> <p>To determine at what point a change in the perception of facial adiposity occurs, Rule and Re digitally created a collection of photos of male and female faces between 20 and 40 years old. In all photos, subjects had neutral expressions, hair pulled back, and no facial adornments. They altered each image to produce sequences of images spanning a range of weights on a gradually increasing scale.</p> <p>Participants in the study were asked to compare randomly drawn pairs of faces from each sequence and choose the heavier-looking one. After several trials, the researchers determined a change in BMI of approximately 1.33 kg/m2 is required to make a difference noticeable.</p> <p>“We calculated the weight change thresholds in terms of BMI rather than simple kilograms or pounds, so that people of all weights and heights can apply it to themselves according to their individual stature,” said Re.</p> <p>The researchers also investigated the threshold at which changes in an individual’s facial adiposity resulted in a change in perceived attractiveness. Although beauty is to some extent in the eye of the beholder, a large body of research shows that there are some universal standards of beauty, and these tend to reflect whether or not someone looks healthy.</p> <p>Rule and Re found that the average decrease required to make the faces in the sample appear more attractive was 2.38 kg/m2 for women, and 2.59 kg/m2 for men, translating to about 6.3 and 8.2 kilograms (approximately 14 and 18 pounds) for women and men of average height, respectively.</p> <p>“The difference between the groups suggests women’s facial attractiveness may be more sensitive to changes in weight,” said Rule. “This just means women attempting to lose weight need to shed slightly fewer pounds than men for people to find them more attractive.”</p> <p>“When it comes to incentives for weight loss, some people are more motivated to look attractive than to improve their health,” said Re.</p> <p>The research is described in full in the study “H<a href="http://spp.sagepub.com/content/early/2015/08/09/1948550615599829.abstract">eavy Matters: The Relationship Between Just Noticeable Differences in Perceptions of Facial Adiposity and Facial Attractiveness</a>,” published in <em>Social Psychological and Personality Science</em>.</p> <p><em>Sean Bettam is a writer with the Faculty of Arts &amp; Science at the ؿζSM.</em></p> <p><em>(<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/foshydog/5111516935/in/photolist-8MFRUk-pdsQzJ-7zu4fo-5Ro6Q7-b7KN9Z-6kaBaN-DgdhC-fZg17z-7zu3xw-8dfgYv-CmTND-rHaYij-8diz5h-8H3bvB-8H6jtG-8H6kcN-6qLz11-7L4qCR-pgHr9U-8H3aJK-7gMEaU-aC93kY-5xaWxn-ncNAYH-dtmEYC-bycKZR-8dixNs-nsYAo2-8KrAgL-67ZnaV-8dffKT-bMykgc-dDrn6D-3m6Z7p-shADvN-byDD47-bMyjAr-bMykSe-dFfnfM-4sDXYq-9n6xgq-9n3sQB-bX291j-dVz4uc-aSFNhp-bX27Mm-bX28AW-oDyapz-dysUHf-ejy3Ac">See the original of the above photo at Flickr</a>)</em></p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-picpath field--type-string field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">picpath</div> <div class="field__item">sites/default/files/2015-12-03-weight-scale.jpg</div> </div> Thu, 03 Dec 2015 12:02:22 +0000 sgupta 7498 at Can you tell a trustworthy from an untrustworthy face? The answer may surprise you /news/can-you-tell-trustworthy-untrustworthy-face-answer-will-surprise-you <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Can you tell a trustworthy from an untrustworthy face? The answer may surprise you </span> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>sgupta</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2015-08-17T07:43:06-04:00" title="Monday, August 17, 2015 - 07:43" class="datetime">Mon, 08/17/2015 - 07:43</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item">Professor Nicholas Rule of U of T's Social Perception &amp; Cognition Lab </div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/veronica-zaretski" hreflang="en">Veronica Zaretski</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-legacy field--type-string field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Author legacy</div> <div class="field__item">Veronica Zaretski </div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/breaking-research" hreflang="en">Breaking Research</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/top-stories" hreflang="en">Top Stories</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/psychology" hreflang="en">Psychology</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/faculty-arts-science" hreflang="en">Faculty of Arts &amp; Science</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/research" hreflang="en">Research</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/nicholas-rule" hreflang="en">Nicholas Rule</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-subheadline field--type-string-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Subheadline</div> <div class="field__item">Research shows an inherent trustworthiness bias, which could mean the difference between life or death </div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Can an apparent look of trustworthiness make the difference between life and death for convicted felons?</p> <p>Research by <strong>Nicholas Rule</strong> and <strong>John Paul Wilson</strong> of the department of psychology suggests it can. And their work has captured the attention of readers from <a href="http://www.economist.com/news/science-and-technology/21659701-criminals-untrustworthy-faces-get-harsher-sentences-looks-could-kill"><em>The</em> <em>Economist</em></a>&nbsp;to the <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3168554/Smile-dock-inmate-s-prison-sentence-drop-dramatically-appear-trustworthy.html"><em>Daily Mail</em></a>.</p> <p>“People have really strong intuition about who is trustworthy and who isn’t,” says Rule, principal investigator of <a href="http://psych.utoronto.ca/users/rule/contact.html">U of T’s Social Perception &amp; Cognition Lab</a>. “When you test it empirically, people think they can tell when others are lying, but they actually can’t.”</p> <p>U of T News spoke to Rule and Wilson, a postdoctoral fellow at the Lab, about a headline-generating study published in <a href="http://pss.sagepub.com/content/26/8/1325.abstract">Psychological Science</a> in which viewers of mug shots of Florida convicts ranked those given life sentences as more trustworthy in appearance than those on death row.&nbsp;</p> <hr> <p><strong>Why did this study get so much coverage in the media? </strong></p> <p><strong>Rule</strong>: It is timely, especially in the American context. There is a debate in Nebraska over the death penalty and the case of the Boston marathon bomber who was sentenced to death. President Obama is pushing for reform in prisons and less harsh sentences. Even Republicans are coming on board. The legal system is on people’s minds, especially as the Americans move to the presidential election. It brings up issues around morality, ethics, what it means to reform people, and the criminal justice system in general.</p> <p><strong>What is the significance of your research?</strong></p> <p><strong>Wilson</strong>: It’s a demonstration of a disturbing phenomenon. We haven’t necessarily isolated any specific ways to curb bias, but it’s sensible to look at this work and use it to inform ourselves. We would like people to be aware of the work because we are all susceptible. The way we see and treat other people is based on biases. Reducing them starts with awareness.</p> <p><strong>Is there a lesson for Canadians? </strong></p> <p><strong>Rule</strong>: We don’t have the death penalty, so no one is getting executed here in Canada, but the larger message is that in courts, people are using information that is based on heuristic and superficial approaches. Defendants are more likely to be found guilty if they look a certain way, or get more severe sentencing if they look guilty.</p> <p>We might want to ask if we want judges and jury members to see the defendant. I think that [not seeing the defendant] would create a fair system by which people would make a fairer judgement.</p> <p><strong>Does the bias you discovered have other implications? </strong></p> <p><strong>Rule</strong>: Individuals have individual biases and these are mostly idiosyncratic. But the reality is that political leaders modify their behaviour so that people will perceive them in a certain way. In my opinion that’s the wrong way to go. We should accept the fact that people have biases and be more aware of those biases. The problem is that people operate on the idea that their biases are objective when they are not. When those biases aggregate and come together they can be harmful, particularly when they become the basis of policy. We hope this research will raise awareness of bias and the need to monitor it.</p> <p><strong>Could you describe the methodology of the project? </strong></p> <p><strong>Wilson</strong>: First we had to download the images and information about the convicts on death row in Florida, then do the same for those convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison. We recruited subjects online who were not aware of the status of these people or even that they were convicted criminals. We didn’t tell them anything about the people that they were seeing, although some assumed that the photos were mug shots and that the people were probably convicted criminals. One group rated both those sentenced to death and those sentenced to life on traits of trustworthiness and untrustworthiness. We had a total of 742 faces in the first study. Each person rated around 100 of those faces. Our second study was of people wrongly convicted who had been sentenced to death or to life in prison. They were later exonerated with the help of the Innocence Project, but even in these cases, trustworthiness was associated with their previous sentencing outcomes.</p> <p><strong>What else are you working on in the Social Perception &amp; Cognition Lab? </strong></p> <p>Rule: One postdoctoral student is working with me right now on perception of leadership from facial cues. We also have a study coming out about perception of health. People are very good at determining how healthy someone is from certain distinctive cues. For example, how much red or yellow hue you have in your skin relates to your immune system. People are able to pick up on these cues and they are reliable markers.&nbsp;</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-picpath field--type-string field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">picpath</div> <div class="field__item">sites/default/files/Nicholas Rule.jpg</div> </div> Mon, 17 Aug 2015 11:43:06 +0000 sgupta 7214 at