Unlike doctors and surgeons, psychologists are more likely to present the left cheek on their professional photographs, perhaps signalling (intuitively) their empathy

Putting your best face forward: Posing biases in psychologists’ online portraits. Ven Yi Hew & Annukka K. Lindell. Laterality. Asymmetries of Brain, Behaviour, and Cognition. May 19 2022. https://doi.org/10.1080/1357650X.2022.2077745

Abstract: When posing for portraits the position you adopt influences perceptions. As the left hemiface (controlled by the emotion-dominant right hemisphere) expresses emotion more intensely, left cheek portraits communicate stronger emotion than right cheek portraits. This phenomenon influences perceptions of both emotional expressivity and professional specialisation: while left cheek portraits emphasise emotion, right cheek portraits appear more scientific. When professionals upload photographs online to promote their services, the cheek shown consequently influences perceptions. Given the importance of empathy in establishing a therapeutic alliance, theoretically psychologists would benefit from choosing left cheek portraits to enhance their perceived emotionality. The present study thus examined psychologists’ posing biases in photographs uploaded to online “Find a Psychologist” resources. Images (N = 1230) of psychologists were drawn from professional “Find a Psychologist” online databases, and coded for gender, portrait type and cheek shown. Results confirmed that psychologists show a left cheek bias, irrespective of gender and across portrait types (upper body, full body). This distinguishes psychologists from doctors and surgeons: past research reports no cheek bias in photos uploaded to “Find a Doctor” websites. The current findings suggest that psychologists may intuitively select left cheek images to enhance the communication of empathy to potential clients.

Keywords: Leftrightemotionpsychologisthemiface

The strongest, and most reliable, predictor of perceived danger of misinformation is the perception that others are more vulnerable to misinformation than the self; believing that societal problems have simple solutions/clear causes is consistently, weakly, associated

Altay, Sacha, and Alberto Acerbi. 2022. “Misinformation Is a Threat Because (other) People Are Gullible.” PsyArXiv. May 20. doi:10.31234/osf.io/n4qrj

Abstract: Alarmist narratives about the flow of misinformation and its negative consequences have gained traction in recent years. If these fears are to some extent warranted, the scientific literature suggests that many of them are exaggerated. Why are overly alarmist narratives about misinformation so popular? In two pre-registered experiments (N = 600, UK), replicated in the US (N = 601), we investigated the psychological factors associated with perceived danger of misinformation and how it contributes to the popularity of alarmist narratives on misinformation. We find that the strongest, and most reliable, predictor of perceived danger of misinformation is the third-person effect (i.e., the perception that others are more vulnerable to misinformation than the self) and, in particular, the belief that ‘distant’ others (as opposed to family and friends) are vulnerable to misinformation. The belief that societal problems have simple solutions and clear causes was consistently, but weakly, associated with perceived danger of online misinformation. Other factors, like negative attitudes towards new technologies and higher sensitivity to threats, were inconsistently, and weakly, associated with perceived danger of online misinformation. Finally, we found that participants who report being more worried about misinformation are more willing to like and share alarmist narratives on misinformation. Our findings suggest that alarmist narratives on misinformation tap into our tendency to view other people as gullible.

People spontaneously looked more and for longer at the sexually provocative images when their eyes were camouflaged by sunglasses (which we surreptitiously monitored)

De-evolving human eyes: The effect of eye camouflage on human attention. Veronica Dudarev, Manlu Liu, Alan Kingstone. Cognition, Volume 225, August 2022, 105136. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2022.105136

Abstract: Eyes are communicative. But what happens when eyes are camouflaged? In the present study, while either wearing sunglasses (that camouflaged the eyes) or clear glasses, participants were presented with sexually provocative and neutral images, which they viewed in the presence of another person who they knew was observing their eyes. Unbeknownst to the participants, however, we also surreptitiously monitored and recorded their eye gaze in both conditions. People spontaneously looked more and for longer at the sexually provocative images when their eyes were camouflaged by sunglasses. This finding provides convergent evidence for the proposal that covert attention operates in service of overt social attention, and suggests that decoupling overt and covert attention is much more prevalent than previously assumed. In doing so it also sheds light on the relation between the evolution of human eye morphology and systems of attention.

Keywords: Social cognitionSocial attentionOvert attentionCovert attentionEye morphologyCamouflage

Consistent with beauty-blind admissions, alumni's beauty is uncorrelated with the rank of the school they attended in China; in the US, White men who attended high-ranked schools are better looking, especially attendees of private schools

The college admissions contribution to the labor market beauty premium. David Ong. Contemporary Economic Policy, April 18 2022. https://doi.org/10.1111/coep.12570

Abstract: We investigate the contribution of college admissions to the labor market beauty premium. We sampled 1800 social media profiles of students from universities ranked from 1 to 200 in China and the US. Chinese universities use standardized test scores for admissions. US universities use also extracurricular activities. Consistent with beauty-blind admissions, alumni's beauty is uncorrelated with the rank of the school they attended in China. In the US, White men who attended high-ranked schools are better looking, especially attendees of private schools. A one percentage point increase in beauty rank corresponds to a half-point increase in the school rank.