How are adults with baby-faced facial features perceived and treated differently than adults with mature facial features? What are two explanations for these effects?
What will be an ideal response?
Research has shown that adults with baby-faced features (i.e., large round eyes, high
eyebrows, round cheeks, a large forehead, smooth skin, and a rounded chin) tend to be
seen as relatively warm, kind, naive, weak, honest, and submissive, whereas adults with
mature features (i.e., small eyes, low eyebrows, a small forehead, wrinkled skin, and an
angular chin) tend to be seen as stronger, more dominant, and less naive. Furthermore,
baby-faced individuals are considered more favorably by judges in cases of intentional
wrongdoing and by employers interviewing candidates for a daycare teaching position.
There are three explanations for these effects. First, human beings may be genetically
predisposed to respond gently to infantile features in order to ensure that real babies
are treated carefully. Second, we may learn to associate infantile features with
helplessness and expect this to be true of both infants and adults. Finally, there is the
possibility of an actual link between baby-facedness and behavior, meaning that these
differences in perception are driven by real differences in behavioral tendencies.
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What will be an ideal response?
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