The Relationship Between Face-Based First Impressions and Perceptions of Purity and Compared to Other Moral Violations

Abstract

A trait labelled as “morality” has been argued to be perceived and prioritised during first impressions of faces; however, immorality is not a homogenous concept. Violations of purity are frequently distinguished from other violations via distinct behavioural and emotional patterns, arguably stemming from physical disgust, sexual content, or “weirdness” impure scenarios. In the current research, participants were asked to rate unfamiliar faces based on social traits and their likelihood of engaging in immoral or nonmoral behaviours. Across two studies, perceived engagement in most autonomy and purity moral violations but also the non-moral sexual and “weird” acts was predicted by lower facial morality. There was also a distinction wherein most purity violations and physical disgust were more associated with male gender, and most autonomy violations with ratings of high dominance. The scenarios also differed within categories, such as sexually impure scenarios and disgust associated with unattractive faces; while behaving “weirdly” and certain other purity violations were associated with low dominance. Taken together, our results suggest faces seemingly low on the trait labelled “morality” are perceived as more likely to engage in most immoral behaviours, but also in other socially relevant, nonmoral behaviours. Social judgements are also not homogenous within or between theory-based categories of moral violations.