Trait judgements of faces using a task without word labels

Abstract

People attribute psychological traits to faces. Previous research has typically elicited these judgements using specific words provided in advance by the experimenter (for example, ratings on competence or trustworthiness), raising questions about completeness (these tasks use a limited set of words) and generalizability (for example, across languages). Here we asked over 3,000 participants to spatially arrange unfamiliar faces based on perceived trait similarity, without providing any word labels. Using predominantly White faces, experiment 1 yielded five dimensions that we interpreted as approachability, gender-specific warmth, competence, morality and youthfulness. Using White, Black and Asian faces, experiment 2 also produced five dimensions, which showed prominent effects of stereotypes associated with race. Comparisons with four other studies that used word labels argue that approachability or warmth emerges as a universal evaluative factor that integrates multiple trait facets (such as trustworthiness, warmth and competence) into a single holistic dimension and that race and gender stereotypes emerge depending on the set of face stimuli used.