The “caraísmo” ( face-ism ) or the valuation of people by their facial attributes or facial features has real consequences on a practical level . According to a new study by Carnegie Mellon University (USA) published in the Cell Press magazine, opinions based on the face of a stranger can incline us, in the political sphere, for example, to vote for the candidate who, by his face, us appear more reliable.
“Our research goes beyond associating faces and personalities. It shows how these attributions can affect important decisions , such as the leaders we vote for, the people to whom we entrust our money or whom we judge for a crime ”, Christopher Olivola, lead author of the study, clarifies to Sinc.
According to the researchers, relying on a person’s facial features to make decisions can have serious implications for the legal and financial system . As an example, the scene of a murder trial. The study reveals that if the suspect has a face that inspires distrust or even fear, he is more likely to be convicted than if he has a kind and sympathetic face.
“Although we would like to think that our choices are rational, fair and informed only by important information, the truth is that they are often supported by superficial and irrelevant factors. This worries us, because faces cannot really predict a person’s features ”, clarifies Olivola.
To combat this bias caused by facial features, the key is to receive more information about those people to reduce the influence of the face in our decision . Our life depends on the decisions we make, so we have to avoid that our choices are conditioned by appearances. As the saying goes: appearances can be deceiving .
