Do you look rich? Can you tell if someone is well off? How much does a person’s look give away about their standing in society, and are we all subconsciously responding to that look?
These were some of the main questions in a study that was conducted by Toronto scientists. The hypothesis coming in was that people can tell rich from poor, and those with a wealthier look are much more likely to be successful in job interviews. In effect, wealth is a self-fulfilling prophecy that tends to perpetuate itself, even in the facial expressions of wealth holders.
Professors Nicholas Rule and Thora Bjornsdottir published the findings in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. Their study basically upheld the assumptions that scientists informally held, but the depth of the experiment brought new details to light of how we think about each other in terms of money.
Yes, first impressions are incredibly important. When it comes to job interviews, those impressions become a self-fulfilling prophecy – wealth brings more wealth. In Western society, wealth is usually associated with happiness and contentment, and with good reason.
The faces of the wealthier participants were ever so slightly “happier” and “more content” than their poorer counterparts. These subtle differences in facial expressions held deep implications for the interactions and the successes that people were able to create for themselves.
The study participants were all within the range of 18 to 22 years of age. As the researchers stated, these young people had already had enough life experience to visibly affect their appearances. Random people were able to identify, without any additional information, the social class of the individuals in the study.
The Process
Young people between the ages of 18 and 22 were told to pose with a neutral expression on their faces. The researchers took pictures of their faces and cropped out the body. Other study participants were then asked to identify the social class of the young people in the pictures. The social class of the youth in the pictures was able to be identified at a level that outpaced random chance, according to the researchers.
Researchers concluded that the emotions etched into the neutral face were actually the result of lifelong habits. Wealthier people were more frequently happy, so their faces tended to “freeze” in that position when neutral. Poorer people faced more stress, and this expression and habit tended to solidify in the face as well. Race and gender did not play a factor in the results.
The scientists pointed to the special neurons in the brain that are specifically geared to recognize the face. As a survival mechanism, people tend to see faces first, and see faces everywhere. These neurons also account for the faces that we see in clouds, in the moon, and in anything that even slightly resembles a face. Facial recognition is a habit that we all pick up early and do not relinquish.
The Results
The researchers stressed that the study findings are not all encompassing. For instance, if you are looking to hide your socioeconomic class during a job interview, all is not lost. The study focused on neutral expressions exclusively. Read: A nice smile will scramble the neurons in your interviewer’s brain enough that he will not be able to tell that you grew up in a trailer park.
You can also practice holding the neutral expression of the wealthy. Being happy more often helps. Wealthier faces tended to have slight smirks at both ends of the mouth, while poorer people’s faces were cemented into a more “frowny” position.
Wealthier people are also more easygoing, while poorer people have more serious expressions locked into their faces. Participate in more extracurricular activities that you enjoy. Physically intense exercise is an excellent choice, because the rest period after tends to relax the entire body and remove stress hormones from the bloodstream.
Finally, slightly raising the eyebrows as if you are about to talk is another fix. Wealthier people are often looked to as leaders, and therefore speak more authoritatively. This tends to freeze the eyebrows in a slightly higher position.
Regards,
Ethan Warrick
Editor
Wealth Authority
