The Effects of First Impressions on Predicting Honesty Outcomes Using Audiovisual Integration
Abstract
Abstract
People automatically and unconsciously process first impressions of faces and voices
during social interactions. There are consequences to our first impressions because they can
influence and predict a variety of societal outcomes including dating choices, voting behaviors,
job interview success, and judicial court rulings. The implications of first impressions also affect
perceptions of honesty. As a result, the first impressions we form influence how we evaluate
honesty. Perceptions of honesty involve evaluations of how honest, truthful, or deceptive
someone appears in a situation. In first impression research, perceptions of honesty (i.e., honesty
evaluations) usually focus on high-stakes honesty judgments (e.g., judicial case rulings, police
lineups, and police investigations). However, the effects of first impressions on perceptions of
honesty are present in our daily social interactions and affect mundane aspects of our lives. For
example, in our daily social interactions, we form first impressions of individuals, and this
affects how we perceive the honesty of these individuals’ opinions, preferences, excuses, or ideas
(i.e., low-stakes honesty evaluations). The first goal of this project was to examine whether
instantaneous first impression judgments of trustworthiness and dominance predict honesty
outcomes in a low-stakes situation. The results suggest that initial perception of trustworthiness
predicts honesty evaluations but only during shorter durations of honesty evaluations. Thus, if
participants are presented with longer durations to evaluate honesty, initial trustworthiness
ratings do not predict honesty outcomes. The second goal was to examine the early stages of first
impression trait judgments and honesty evaluations using thin slices (i.e., 8 and 15-second clip
excerpts from video and audio). A minimum of 8 seconds was chosen to give participants
enough time for top-down processing and in return, they will have enough information to be able
to evaluate honesty. A maximum of 15 seconds was chosen to give participants extra time to
process stimuli but not too much time so that there is less risk of attention loss.
The results suggest that when participants are given more time to evaluate honesty and
trustworthiness the judgments are more positive, which supports the truth-bias theory. The third
goal was to examine whether face and voice cues significantly influence perceptions of
trustworthiness (video) and dominance (audio), respectively. Results were consistent with earlier
findings that suggest voices are linked to dominance. Videos of individuals describing a movie
they liked or disliked that are consistent or inconsistent with their true opinion were used.