Facial Trustworthiness Perception Across the Adult Life Span

Pehlivanoglu, Didem; Lin, Tian; Lighthall, Nichole R.; Heemskerk, Amber; Harber, Alexandria; Wilson, Robert; Turner, Gary R.; Spreng, R. Nathan; Ebner, Natalie C.

doi:10.1093/geronb/gbac166

Cited by 10 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 53 publications

(86 reference statements)

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“…Preferences for trustworthy faces emerge as early as 6 months old 21 . There is also general agreement between younger and older adults on their ratings of trustworthiness for trustworthy-looking faces based on first impressions 14 , 22 – 25 , indicating that first impression accuracy of trustworthy faces may not be impaired in older age 26 , 27 . However, younger and older adults appear to differ in the magnitude of this effect in that older adults tend to evaluate faces more positively than younger adults overall 27 – 29 , with this age effect most notable for faces associated with untrustworthy cues, including disreputable backgrounds and behavior 24 , 28 – 31 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 87%

“…However, first, immediate impressions from faces are not necessarily accurate 12 . Impressions of trustworthiness from faces are highly related to other perceptual characteristics, including facial attractiveness 9 , emotional expression 9 , 13 , age 14 , and self-resemblance 15 , 16 ; and can be unreliable 17 , susceptible to bias 9 , 18 , and overweighed in social decisions 19 . For example, overreliance on first impressions of trustworthiness may lead to negative social attributions and behaviors towards others with possibly devastating consequences (e.g., dehumanization of outgroup members 20 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Evaluations of trustworthiness are subject to change across the lifespan, but the characterization of age-related changes is still limited 14 , 17 . Preferences for trustworthy faces emerge as early as 6 months old 21 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Age-group differences in trust-related decision-making and learning

Horta,

Shoenfelt,

Lighthall

et al. 2024

Sci Rep

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Facial impressions contribute to evaluations of trustworthiness. Older adults are especially vulnerable to trust violations, incurring risks for deception and exploitation. Using the newly developed social Iowa Gambling Task (S-IGT), we examined age-group differences in the impact of facial trustworthiness on decision-making and learning. In the congruent condition (CS-IGT), advantageous decks were paired with trustworthy faces and disadvantageous decks with untrustworthy faces. In the incongruent condition (IS-IGT), this pairing was reversed. Younger (n = 143) and older (n = 129) participants completed either the standard Iowa Gambling Task (IGT), CS-IGT, or IS-IGT. Both age groups preferred trustworthy faces in their initial choices. Older adults performed worse than younger adults across all tasks over time. Further, compared to younger adults, older adults performed worse on the IS-IGT, suggesting that incongruent facial cues interfered with older adults’ performance, which aligns with reduced sensitivity to negative social reputations in aging. Multilevel modeling also indicated that age-group differences were most pronounced across all tasks in the last 40 trials. Together these findings suggest that differences between younger and older adults in experience-dependent decision-making are magnified in social contexts that involve a “wolf in sheep’s clothing,” which may reflect age-related difficulties in integrating incongruent information.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 87%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Age-group differences in trust-related decision-making and learning

Horta,

Shoenfelt,

Lighthall

et al. 2024

Sci Rep

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“…All facial expressions were neutral (non-emotional). The four selected face images were the two most and the two least trustworthy-looking faces based on trustworthiness ratings on a scale from 0 (i.e., not trustworthy at all) to 100 (i.e., very trustworthy) obtained from participants in an independent study (Pehlivanoglu et al, 2023). See Table 2S in Supplemental Materials for descriptive statistics of the trustworthiness ratings of the face stimuli.…”

Section: Cs-igt and Is-igtmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Social Iowa Gambling Task (S-IGT): A Novel Paradigm for Investigating Social Learning and Decision Making

Perez,

Shoenfelt,

Lighthall

et al. 2023

Preprint

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The unique distinctions between non-social and social learning and decision making are largely unknown. Facial cues, critical in forming first impressions of trustworthiness, may influence maladaptive social learning, such as prioritizing appearances over actions and settling for satisfactory outcomes. To test this, we augmented a well-established measure of learning and decision making, the Iowa Gambling Task, to examine the role of social (face)cues in learning. Our newly developed Social Iowa Gambling Task (S-IGT) includes: 1) the experimental manipulation of facial cues of trustworthiness; 2) the incorporation of two conditions in which the dis/advantageous decks are represented by un/trustworthy faces (i.e., congruent condition; CS-IGT) and vice versa (i.e., incongruent condition; IS-IGT); and (3) a non-social control condition. With these features, the new S-IGT goes beyond widely used multi-round trust games and expands on their ability to model the influence of social context during decision making. Across three studies, 558participants were randomly assigned to complete either the IGT or one of the two conditions of the S-IGT (i.e., in/congruent). Participants showed the best initial performance in the CS-IGT, but also evidenced the least improvement over time in this condition and most disadvantageous decision making after learning (i.e., during the last block). Results from this novel task support the notion that congruence between facial cues of trustworthiness and behavior can inhibit learning and result in inadequate/suboptimal decision making, perhaps because they promote satisficing.

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“…Sociobiological features of faces (sex, age, emotion, dominance, attractiveness [71,72]), often in tandem, moderate facial trustworthiness perceptions [73,74], with some variations between young and older adults. For example, both age groups perceived older faces depicting negative emotions (e.g., disgust) as less trustworthy than young and happy faces [75]. Older compared to young adults, however, rated neutral untrustworthy-looking faces as more trustworthy and showed dampened amygdala response to them [76] (see also [77]).…”

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confidence: 99%

Financial Fraud and Deception in Aging

Ebner¹,

Pehlivanoglu²,

Shoenfelt³

2023

Preprint

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Financial exploitation among older adults is a significant concern with often devastating consequences for individuals and society. Deception p lays a critical role in financial exploitation, and detecting deception is challenging, especially for older adults. Susceptibility to deception in older adults is heightened by age -related changes in cognition, such as declines in processing speed and working memory, as well as socioemotional factors, including positive affect and social isolation. Additionally, neurobiological changes with age, such as reduced cortical volume and altered functional connectivity, are associated with declining deception detection and increased risk for financial exploitation among older adults. Furthermore, characteristics of deceptive messages, such as personal relevance and framing, as well as visual cues such as faces, can influence deception detection. Understanding the multi faceted factors that contribute to deception risk in aging is crucial for developing interventions and strategies to protect older adults from financial exploitation. Tailored approaches, including age-specific warnings and harmonizing artificial intelligence as well as human-centered approaches, can help mitigate the risks and protect older adults from exploitation.

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Facial Trustworthiness Perception Across the Adult Life Span

Cited by 10 publications

References 53 publications

Age-group differences in trust-related decision-making and learning

Age-group differences in trust-related decision-making and learning

The Social Iowa Gambling Task (S-IGT): A Novel Paradigm for Investigating Social Learning and Decision Making

Financial Fraud and Deception in Aging

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