The accuracy of inferences about criminality based on facial appearance.

Abstract

A growing body of evidence suggests that rapid, yet accurate, dispositional inferences can be made after minimal exposure to the physical appearance of others. In this study, we explore the accuracy of inferences regarding criminality made after brief exposure to static images of convicted criminals' and non-criminals' faces. We begin with a background of research and theory on the curiously recurrent, and historically controversial, topic of appearance-based inferences of criminality, and a brief justification of our reopening of the debate about the accuracy of appearance-based criminality judgments. We then report two experiments in which participants, given a set of headshots of criminals and non-criminals, were able to reliably distinguish between these two groups, after controlling for the gender, race, age, attractiveness, and emotional displays, as well as any potential clues of picture origin. Empirical and theoretical implications, limitations, and further questions are discussed in light of these findings.

Facial Stereotypes and Perceived Mental Illness

“…Lastly, as suggested by one of the reviewers, it would be of interest to explore the extent to which our current results compare with perception of actual persons who are diagnosed with a mental illness. It is clear that we can distinguish criminal from non-criminal faces (Valla et al [8]) and one would anticipate that, based on the current findings using photographs of synthetic faces, that we should be able to do the same using photographs of real faces.…”

“…In general, it would appear that we consistently agree as to whether a face looks like a criminal (e.g. Bull and Green [17]), and this bias is strong enough that human observers are able to distinguish between faces of known criminals from non-criminal controls (Valla et al [8]). …”

“…Charles Darwin suggested that physical cues can provide valuable signals for social interaction (for a discussion, see Valla et al [8]). Cesare Lombroso noted the apparent (although not causal) relationship between biology and crime; for example, characteristics of murderers were found to include a strong jaw, large cheekbones and curly hair (Wolfgang [9]).…”

How Disgust Affects Romantic Attraction: the Influence of Moods on Judgments of Attractiveness

“…The potential issue with these photos is that they all were of criminals who were recently put on parole in the state of Florida. The use of photographs of criminals is an issue because as research first conducted by Thornton (1939) and more recently by Valla, Ceci, and Williams (2011) suggests, people are adept at picking out criminals when are given pictures. It is possible that these phenomena may explain the generally mid-range ratings of attractiveness across all conditions in the study.…”

Comment on empirical evidence for the design of public lighting

“…One limitation of these studies is that the target faces were photographs rather than live actors. While there is reason to suspect the results are ecologically valid for pedestrians' interpersonal judgements [Bond et al, 1994;Todorov et al, 2009;Valla et al, 2011] it would be desirable to repeat the work using live actors. …”