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Recent studies could offer insight into the reasons behind individuals’ faulty perceptions of the credibility of various groups, as demonstrated on the popular television show, The Traitors.
The well-known BBC program features a cast of participants, some of whom are designated as Traitors. The remaining Faithful members must collaborate to eliminate the Traitors from the competition and claim the prize money.
In the current episodes, the Traitors have been difficult to identify, leaving the Faithful unsure of who they can trust.
According to research from the University of Aberdeen’s School of Psychology, individuals determine the trustworthiness of groups by creating a “composite face” using their collective facial features. This could greatly impact their perception of the group.
Fiammetta Marini, a postgraduate student, stated that we make subconscious evaluations of trustworthiness based on a person’s facial features.
Perhaps the true lesson is to prioritize actions over personal opinions about appearances.
For instance, when someone has raised eyebrows and a mouth shaped like a “U”, they typically give off an impression of trustworthiness.
Conversely, having closely placed eyes or lowered eyebrows can often be perceived as untrustworthy.
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It should be noted, though, that these evaluations are not dependable or trustworthy.
The connection between facial characteristics and true trustworthiness is not completely accurate, and impressions of trustworthiness are not precise enough to be dependable bases for real-life choices.
“Despite this, we often form snap judgments that greatly influence our daily lives. While these impressions may not always be accurate, they still play a significant role in shaping our social interactions.”
Ms. Marini and her team of researchers discovered that our visual system does not evaluate each individual face, but instead combines the impressions of trustworthiness from a group of faces to create an overall representation that provides us with a quick understanding.
This technique is known as “collective perception” and is believed to be highly beneficial as it enables individuals to rapidly gather social information they perceive.
The study, overseen by professors Dr. Mauro Manassi and Dr. Clare Sutherland, revealed that this decision is typically reached within 0.25 seconds.
Ms Marini stated that in the past, research has primarily examined how we form trust judgments of individual faces when assessing their trustworthiness.
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“In our daily lives, we frequently come across groups of people instead of just individuals. Therefore, it is crucial to comprehend the process of forming impressions of groups.”
Essentially, the way we perceive the trustworthiness of a group can have an impact on how we interact with that group.
“However, it is crucial to keep in mind that our discussion solely pertains to physical characteristics of the face.”
Perhaps the true takeaway is that we should pay attention to people’s actions rather than basing our opinions on their appearance.
This could clarify why individuals might make statements such as “there is a certain quality about them that I don’t trust” or “I don’t trust any of them.” It may also shed light on why the Traitors are difficult to identify.
The research has been published in the journal Cognition.
The newest installment of The Traitors, presented by Claudia Winkleman, will wrap up on BBC One this Friday.
Source: independent.co.uk
