Is it possible for a person's face to appear differently to observers depending on the perceived personality of that person? Subjects read about a sexual assault in which a male or female witness either smiled and watched the rape, or called for help and scared off the attacker. Those who read about the harmful witness rated him or her as consistently more hostile, socially deviant, dominant, sadistic, and more likely to take risks than the helpful witness, and as having less empathy and nurturance. The subjects then received a composite photograph of the witness and were asked to make several global and specific facial feature ratings. Those who previously perceived the male or female witness as having negative personality traits, also rated him or her as having a more thin, narrow, and pale face, a more narrow and square chin, with a long nose and thin lips, compared to the witness who was judged in more positive terms. We discuss these results in terms of the validity of eyewitness testimony.
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