雙語研究：美國人也以貌取人

摘要：卡耐基梅隆大學的研究人員稱，無論是在政治選舉中的投票還是在法庭上要做的證詞，拜臉主義能讓人做出草率、欠考慮的決定。

Research has revealed that people often make sweeping judgments of others based on the size and shape of their facial features.

For instance, individuals with feminine-looking or naturally happy faces are consistently thought of as more trustworthy.

研究發現人們會根據面部特徵和臉型大小等因素對人做出迅速的判斷。

例如，那些長相女性化以及天生擁有快樂容顏的人讓人覺得更值得信賴。

美國人也以貌取人

While competence, dominance and friendliness are also associated with specific facial traits, including larger foreheads, prominent noses and strong chins.

而那些具有寬大額頭、高挺鼻樑以及突出下頷等面部特徵的人，會讓人感覺更有能力、更有支配欲以及更不友好。

And now researchers from Carnegie Mellon University have warned that ‘face-ism’ can lead people to make rash decisions, from voting for a particular politician to convicting someone of a crime.

卡耐基梅隆大學的研究人員稱，無論是在政治選舉中的投票還是在法庭上要做的證詞，拜臉主義能讓人做出草率、欠考慮的決定。

Political candidates with naturally competent-looking faces, such as Barack Obama, were more likely to win elections than those who looked less competent.

在政治選舉中，那些具有天生較有能力的面孔如美國總統奧巴馬，比具有較無能面孔的候選人，更容易勝出。

While, 'babyface’ features, characterised by a round face, large eyes and a small nose and chin are generally seen as a sign of incompetence. The reverse is true for strong, mature faces.

而具有“娃娃臉”特徵的面孔，如圓臉、大眼、小鼻子及細頰等，一般被視爲無能的跡象。強壯、成熟的臉則爲能力高強。

Company chief executives who looked competent had a better chance of being hired by large successful companies, even when they performed no better than less competent-looking rivals, said the researchers.

在應聘首席執行官時，那些面孔看來較有能力的人更容易被大公司選中，即使事實上他們的表現，並不比那些長相看起來無能的對手好到哪去。

In the military, having a dominant, masculine face appeared to be a ticket to higher rank attainment.

在軍營中，有威風、陽剛臉孔的人，等於手握一張晉升將校的入場券。

Elsewhere, research has shown that people considered to be untrustworthy and dishonest tend to have sunken cheeks, furrowed brows and eyes set close together.

另外，有研究顯示那些臉頰凹陷、眉頭多皺紋以及眼距較窄的人常被認爲是不誠實、不值得信賴的人。

In contrast, a smiling face with prominent cheekbones and high eyebrows suggests trustworthiness and honesty.

而相比之下，顴骨突出、眉毛上挑的愛笑面孔總給人誠實可信的感覺。

Research suggests that ‘face-ism’ can be combated by providing more relevant information, such as the past behaviour of a political candidate, said the experts.

研究人員稱要避免以臉取人，可以在做判斷時多考慮如政治候選人的過去行爲等相關信息。

　　相關閱讀：寬臉盤的面相是否具有攻擊性

Left to right: George H. W. Bush, Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and Jimmy Carter. Aggressive people are easy to spot because they have instantly recognizable wide faces, researchers essive people are easy to spot because they have instantly recognizable wide faces, researchers claim.

Just a quick glance at someone's facial structure may be enough to predict their tendency towards aggression, according to a study published in the Psychological Science journal found

Facial width-to-height ratio (WHR) is determined by measuring the distance between the right and left cheeks and the distance from the upper lip to the mid-brow.

Psychologists from Brock University in the USA decided to follow up on previous research that suggested males with a large facial WHR act more aggressively than those with narrower features .

In the study, volunteers viewed photos of faces of men who had previously had their aggressive behaviour analysed.

The participants then rated how aggressive they thought each person was on a scale of one to seven, after viewing each face for either 2000 milliseconds or 39 milliseconds.

The results revealed the participants' estimates of aggression correlated highly with the actual aggressive behaviour of the men - even if they only saw the picture for a split second.

And the volunteers' estimates also matched with the WHR of the faces the wider the face, the higher the aggressive rating.

The psychologists concluded that subtle differences in face shape may affect personality judgements, which in turn, guide how people respond to others.

During childhood, boys and girls have similar facial structures, but during puberty, males develop wider features than females.

Previous research has suggested that males with wider faces act more aggressively - with studies showing that hockey players with broad features earn more penalty minutes per game than other players .