THE INFLUENCE OF FACIAL DOMINANCE ON PERCEPTIONS OF HELPFULNESS

Abstract

In recent years, research has shown that people’s facial appearance influences the way they are perceived and treated by others. The present research explores the role of facial dominance in helping behavior. Specifically, this study examines how the facial dominance of help seekers affects the perceived likelihood that they will ask for help and how the facial dominance of the prospective helpers affects the perceived likelihood that they will help. These questions are motivated by the idea that people often need to ask for the help of others. Occasionally, they may have minimal information about the prospective helper. In such a case, the help seeker needs to assess if a candidate to serve as the helper will be capable as well as willing to help. Likewise, a person in need for help may hesitate to ask for it. A perceiver watching this person may suspect that this person needs help but hesitates asking for it. What informs such a suspicion? One important cue that can provide an answer to these questions is expected to be the appearance of both the prospective helper and of the help seeker.

Appearance was already shown as a factor affecting helping behavior. In this context, it was found, for example, that attractive help seekers are more likely to receive help than unattractive ones. Likewise, baby-faced adult help seekers, characterized by typical morphological cues like thick lips and big eyes, elicit higher help intentions from potential helpers. Appearance was also found to determine who is more likely to be asked for help. In this context, it was found that help seekers are more inclined to ask for help from unattractive individuals than from attractive ones. Attempting to add to this line of research, as mentioned above, the present research focused on facial dominance as a factor determining perceived help-seeking and help-giving likelihood.

In four studies, participants were introduced to a help scenario and pictures of help-seekers and prospective helpers whose appearance varied on facial dominance. Participants were asked to evaluate the likelihood of asking for help and receiving it as a function of the protagonists' facial dominance.

Also, was assessed the prospective helpers' perceived reasons informing their intentions to help. Previous studies distinguished between altruistic intentions and ‘ulterior’ reasons for help. In line with this distinction, in the present research the altruistic motive was assessed by ratings of the perceived caring nature of the helper and the ulterior motive by ratings of perceived felt obligation to help.

Finally, perceived skill was also assessed since dominance is associated with competence and competent people may be seen as more effective helpers. Photographs of individuals varying on perceived dominance taken from The Chicago face data base (Ma, Correll, & Wittenbrink, 2015) served as stimuli in the studies.

Results suggest that submissive persons are seen as more likely to provide help since they are perceived to be more caring and helpful by character. Submissive individuals were perceived as feeling more obliged to help when asked by a dominant person, only in the context of a financial help. Participants also preferred to ask a submissive person for help when they needed it.

In sum, the impression that another person is a caring individual determines help seeking behaviors. This impression can be formed based on the potential helper's facial appearance. In this context, low facial dominance is associated with an increased perception of caring and helpfulness. Despite the fact that dominance is associated with competence and competent helpers are likely to be perceived as more effective helpers, this aspect does not seem to influence perceivers judgments and decision in relation to help. This suggests that help perception is more strongly related to affiliation motives than to power. This is in line with previous research that stresses the role of traits associated with affiliation as motivating help.