The Development of Character Judgments From Faces

First impressions play a central role in human social interaction. In particular, the face is a rich source of information that perceivers use in making both initial and lasting character judgments. Despite the large and growing body of work demonstrating that these judgments affect outcomes in domains as crucial as elections and criminal sentencing, little remains known about the ontogenetic origins of this consequential aspect of human social cognition. The purpose of this dissertation is to provide a set of early investigations into the development of face-to-trait inferences. Paper 1 demonstrates that, like adults, even children as young as 3-4 years of age provide consistent trait judgments when asked to judge two-dimensional computer-generated face images, suggesting that this general ability is so fundamental as to emerge strongly at the earliest ages tested. Paper 2 shows that this propensity is so deeply ingrained at an early age that similar consensus across the lifespan emerges in response to static faces belonging to adults, children, and even rhesus macaques. Paper 3 investigates the potential consequences of these judgments, showing that face-based character assessments influence attributions of trait-relevant behaviors and even cause children to modulate their own behaviors towards others. The findings of this dissertation clearly illustrate that face-to-trait inference emerges early in development, and is therefore a fundamental element of human social cognition with important consequences throughout the lifespan.Psycholog