How You Look 'Says' Who You Are: Face Algorithm Predicts First Impressions

A first impression might have less to do with what you say and more with how you look.

Recent findings published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) found that most are subconsciously judging an individual's personality characteristics based on certain facial features.

"If people are forming these first impressions, just based on looking at somebody's face, what is it about the image of the face that's giving that impression - can we measure it exactly?" said Dr. Tom Hartley, via the BBC. Hartley is a neuroscientist at the university and senior study author of the research.

Though researchers are still relatively uncertain how these initial perceptions are formed, first impressions are essential in a world that's becoming dominated by social media. Furthermore, a picture or image of a person may give a false perception of them before we have ever even met them.

Previous studies have indicated just how quickly some can form judgments about who is approachable and who is not. For the latest study, researchers collected 1,000 ordinary photographs from the Internet and analyzed physical features of the faces, which were described in terms of 65 different characteristics.

Next, the researchers created an algorithm based on the features and how they would have some predict certain things about new people.

Scientific insight into the process revealed interesting ideas on social judgment about how important faces and specific images of faces are in creating good and bad first impressions.

"In everyday life I am not conscious of the way faces and pictures of faces are influencing the way I interact with people. Whether in "real life" or online; it feels as if a person's character is something I can just sense. These results show how heavily these impressions are influenced by visual features of the face - it's quite an eye opener!" concluded Dr. Hartley.