Kids As Young As 5 Make Superficial Judgments Based On Appearance

BOSTON (CBS) — Harvard researchers found that children as young as five make superficial judgments about others based on their facial features, much like adults do. Adults often make snap judgments about other people based simply on how their mouth is set or the shape of their brow. This can influence who we vote for, who we hire, and who may get a harsher punishment. Now researchers have found that by the age of five, children do the same. They had 350 children ages 3 to 13 look at computer-generated faces designed to look trustworthy or not, dominant or submissive, competent or incompetent. The kids almost always made the stereotypically expected assessments of those faces. And by age five, they also tended to change their behavior depending on how they judged a face. For example, they were more likely to share a cookie with someone they identified as having trustworthy or submissive faces. Even though judging someone by their looks is not fair and often not accurate, this tendency emerges in early childhood.
Source: WBZ-TV - Breaking News, Weather and Sports for Boston, Worcester and New Hampshire - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Boston News Health Healthwatch Seen On WBZ-TV Syndicated Local Dr. Mallika Marshall Source Type: news