CLEARWATER, Fla., Aug. 15, 2023 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ — It’s not what’s inside that counts when it comes to first impressions. People subconsciously make assumptions about a person’s character with just one glance at a stranger’s face. These initial inferences are often inaccurate but can have serious social and economic consequences. Esthetic treatments have been found to make a dramatic difference in how people are perceived. A study found that after a single esthetic injectable treatment, independent reviewers rated the subjects in the posttreatment photos as more attractive, younger, more successful, better educated, and more approachable. Cynthia Elliott, MD, owner of the esthetic medical practice Skinspirations, highlights how nonsurgical cosmetic facial treatments can help people project the personality and look they desire.
Research shows that when people see someone for the first time, within 1/10th of a second, they subconsciously assess their attractiveness and form an impression of their character. This is true even when viewing a single photograph.(1) These impressions are amazingly consistent between people and, even when found to be inaccurate, can be difficult to shake later. Decisions made based on first impressions have a major impact on people’s lives, affecting how they interact with others, who they hire, who they help, and who they date.(2) Cynthia Elliott, MD, owner and primary practitioner of Skinspirations, observes, “Attractiveness is the quality of appearance that’s been researched the most in facial impression studies, and it’s no secret that being considered attractive comes with many perks.”
Besides the obvious social benefits, attractive individuals get more job interviews, make more money, get more promotions, and get away with more unethical behavior.(3,4)
This is due to the “halo effect,” where attractive people are attributed with other positive traits like being trustworthy, intelligent, competent, and talented.(5)
Other personality traits with social implications that people almost instantaneously infer from the appearance of a stranger’s face include competence, sociability, and honesty.
People who have strong jawlines, square chins, low brows, and smaller eyes are assumed to be powerful, competent leaders (6) and are more likely to be CEOs of large, successful companies.(7) Even though competent-looking CEOs are not necessarily better at their jobs, they’re more likely to get paid more. Military cadets who look more dominant are more likely to achieve higher ranks, and trustworthy-looking people are not only more likely to get loans; they get a lower interest rate.(8)
People with faces that have high inner brows (forming an almost surprised expression), a soft jawline, a narrow or rounded chin, and full cheeks are assumed to be approachable and honest.(9) Feminine faces are smaller and have larger eyes and cheeks, fuller lips, and less prominent brows compared to faces considered masculine. Not surprisingly, people with more feminine features are perceived as more trustworthy than people with masculine faces.(10)
A less-than-honest personality is implied by someone with a face that has low brows, flat cheeks, a mouth with downturned corners, and lines between the brows suggestive of a frown.(11)
Personality assumptions made based on structural hints of an emotional expression are referred to as “emotion overgeneralization.” These trait inferences are even triggered by emotionally neutral faces that have structural details that‥resemble‥an emotional expression.(13) When someone’s face has slightly upturned mouth corners or crow’s feet, they’re perceived as happy and trustworthy, whereas someone with a downturned mouth or low brows is perceived as dominant or even angry.(12)
With the rise of social media and online video meetings, it’s likely that the impact of facial trait first impressions is increasing.(14)
Luckily, research shows that cosmetic facial treatments can improve the first impression a person makes by both increasing attractiveness and changing perceived character traits.
Which of the men in the photos below would more likely be hired to teach elementary school? (see Figure 1)
The man in these photos had some dermal filler to lift his sunken upper cheeks and laser skin resurfacing to smooth his cheeks. Dr. Elliott, who performed the treatments, notes, “When he returned after having these treatments, he remarked that strangers were greeting him more often than they’d done in the past, and he was surprised that such a subtle physical difference could have such a big social impact.”
A person whose face looks angry or intense can look more relaxed and approachable simply by relaxing their frown lines and lifting their brows with Botox. Adding injectable fillers to lift downturned mouth corners and subtly plump cheeks can make a person appear happier and more trustworthy.
For someone preferring to look more dominant, dermal fillers can enhance the jawline and chin, and neuromodulators can be used to lower high brows.
A study published in 2019 showed that people who had received nonsurgical cosmetic face treatments, including injectable fillers and muscle relaxants, were rated by independent reviewers in their posttreatment photos as appearing more attractive, more financially successful, more educated, younger, and more approachable compared to their pretreatment images. The researchers concluded, “This study demonstrated how individuals were perceived as more successful occupationally, socially, and personally while improving perceived attractiveness and age following panfacial treatment.”(15)
Injectable esthetic treatments can make dramatic differences in the personality traits suggested by an individual’s face. Perpetual frown lines, low-lying brows, or a downturned mouth that imply unhappiness or anger can be improved with treatments like Botox Cosmetic. Injectable dermal fillers can erase dark under-eye circles or flattened cheeks to make someone look rested, healthy, younger, and more energetic. People who want to appear more dominant can enhance their jawlines and chins and lower their brows, and those who want to look more trustworthy can raise their brows, enhance their cheeks, and round off their chins. The strategic placement of injectable fillers can also help masculinize or feminize a face as desired. Of course, these treatments won’t change a person’s underlying character, but the increased confidence they provide can improve multiple social outcomes.
About Dr. Cynthia Elliott and Skinspirations
Cynthia Elliott, M.D., is the owner and primary practitioner of Skinspirations, a cosmetic and regenerative medical practice that provides injectable and laser aesthetic treatments, professional skincare, body contouring, and regenerative treatments for aesthetic and musculoskeletal concerns. Located in Clearwater, Florida, Dr. Elliott is valued for her medical expertise and her training on the national level for the makers of Botox® Cosmetic and Juvéderm and internationally for Cutera Lasers. Her patients seek her expertise, knowing that she and her long-tenured staff have trained many professionals in the Tampa Bay area. Skinspirations has performed over 88,000 cosmetic medical treatments since 2005 and is known for the most effective aesthetic and regenerative medical treatments available, providing the quality results that other practitioners are still trying to learn. Dr. Elliott, whose medical training began in emergency medicine, currently serves as an expert witness in Cosmetic Medicine for the Florida Board of Medicine. For more information, visit http://www.skinspirations.com.
References
1. Willis, J., & Todorov, A. First Impressions: Making Up Your Mind After a 100-Ms Exposure to a Face. Psychological Science, 2006;17(7), 592–598.
2. Zebrowitz LA, Collins MA. Accurate social perception at zero acquaintance: The affordances of a Gibsonian approach. Personality and Social Psychology Review. 1997; 1:204–223
3. Shtudiner, Z., & Klein, G0 Gender, Attractiveness, and Judgment of Impropriety: The case of Accountants. European Journal of Political Economy. 2020
4. Min-Hsuan Tu, Elisabeth K. Gilbert, Joyce E. Bono. Is beauty more than skin deep? Attractiveness, power, and nonverbal presence in evaluations of hirability. Personnel Psychology.2022, 75:1:119-146.
5. Graham, J. R., Harvey, C. R., & Puri, M., A corporate beauty contest.‥Management Science,2017, 63(9), 3044–3056.
6. Keating, C., Gender and the Physiognomy of Dominance and Attractiveness. Social Psychology Quarterly,1985, 48(1), 61-70.
7. Todorov A, Olivola CY, Dotsch R, Mende-Siedlecki P., Social attributions from faces: Determinants, consequences, accuracy, and functional significance. 2015. Ann Rev Psychol 66: 519–545.
8. Todorov, A., Why Reading Faces Is a Dangerous Game – The information we gather from our first impressions is often wrong. 2022 CBR – Behavioral Science
9. Todorov, A., Baron, Oosterhof, N., Evaluating Face Trustworthiness: AModel Based Approach. 2008. Social, Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience. Jun; 3(2): 119–127.
10. D I Perrett 1, K J Lee, I Penton-Voak,. Effects of sexual dimorphism on facial attractiveness. Nature.1998. Aug 27;394(6696):884-7.
11. Freeman,J. Stolier, R. Ingbretsen Z., Amygdala Responsivity to High-Level Social Information from Unseen Faces. Journal of Neuroscience. 2014. Aug: 34 (32) 10573-10581
12. Adams, R. Nelson, A., Soto, J., Emotion in the neutral face: a mechanism for impression formation? Cogn Emot. 2012;26(3):431-41.
13. Todorov, A. Said, C., Engell, A. Understanding evaluation of faces on social dimensions. Trends Cogn Sci. 2008 Dec;12(12):455-60.
14. Sutherland, C, Young, A., Understanding trait impressions from faces. British Journal of Psychology. 2022, Nov:113, (4): 1056-1078.
15. Dayan, S, Rivkin, A, Sykes, J, Aesthetic Treatment Positively Impacts Social Perception: Analysis of Subjects from the HARMONY Study. Aesth. Surg. J. 2019 Nov 13;39(12):1380-1389.
Pull Quote
Attractiveness is the quality of appearance that’s been researched the most in facial impression studies, and it’s no secret that being considered attractive comes with many perks
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