The DOI matches its Crossref record; 54 of the 55 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Validation of data-driven computational models of social perception of faces.
Abstract
People rapidly form impressions from facial appearance, and these impressions affect social decisions. We argue that data-driven, computational models are the best available tools for identifying the source of such impressions. Here we validate seven computational models of social judgments of faces: attractiveness, competence, dominance, extroversion, likability, threat, and trustworthiness. The models manipulate both face shape and reflectance (i.e., cues such as pigmentation and skin smoothness). We show that human judgments track the models' predictions (Experiment 1) and that the models differentiate between different judgments, though this differentiation is constrained by the similarity of the models (Experiment 2). We also make the validated stimuli available for academic research: seven databases containing 25 identities manipulated in the respective model to take on seven different dimension values, ranging from -3 SD to +3 SD (175 stimuli in each database). Finally, we show how the computational models can be used to control for shared variance of the models. For example, even for highly correlated dimensions (e.g., dominance and threat), we can identify cues specific to each dimension and, consequently, generate faces that vary only on these cues.
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“A second limitation was that we only used male Caucasian faces. This decision was made in the light of evidence that there is a bias to classify bald, hairless faces as males (Todorov et al., 2013); thus, it is possible that our findings may not extend to females faces as well as faces from different ethnic backgrounds.”
From Mistrust and negative self‐esteem: Two paths from attachment styles to paranoia. (2021) · cites this paper as Todorov et al., 2013
In the citing paper
“The choice of using intelligence, trustworthiness, sociability and happiness as dependent attributes for the halo effect was driven by existing literature on this cognitive bias, such as [4,6,8,9,22,53,60–63].”
From What is beautiful is still good: the attractiveness halo effect in the era of beauty filters (2024) · cites this paper as [63]
Citations
Cites
A morphable model for the synthesis of 3D faces
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First Impressions: Making Up Your Mind After a 100-Ms Exposure to a Face
Willis, J., & Todorov, A. (2006) · Psychological Science · doi:10.1111/j.1467-9280.2006.01750.x · Cited by 2,300
Self-citationFace recognition based on fitting a 3D morphable model
Blanz, V., & Vetter, T. (2003) · IEEE Transactions on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence · doi:10.1109/tpami.2003.1227983 · Cited by 2,023
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The functional basis of face evaluation
Oosterhof, N. N., & Todorov, A. (2008) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.0805664105 · Cited by 1,819
Self-citationInferences of competence from faces predict election outcomes
Todorov, A., Mandisodza, A. N., Goren, A., & Hall, C. C. (2005) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.1110589 · Cited by 1,508
Self-citationFacial expressions of emotion are not culturally universal
Jack, R. E., Garrod, O. G. B., Yu, H., Caldara, R., & Schyns, P. G. (2012) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.1200155109 · Cited by 940
Facial and vocal expressions of emotion
Russell, J. A., Bachorowski, J.-A., & Fernández-Dols, J.-M. (2003) · Annual Review of Psychology · doi:10.1146/annurev.psych.54.101601.145102 · Cited by 873
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Items 201–219 of 219
Anqi, M., Cao, R., Sun, S., Wang, S., & Oh, D. (2024) · doi:10.31219/osf.io/yrxc8
Trait judgments of medieval Japanese illustrated portraits
Ueda, R., Suzuki, A., Takagishi, A., Suzuki, C., & Nagai, K. (2025) · Perception · doi:10.1177/03010066251322632
Faces displaying dominance and trustworthiness do not automatically capture attention
Sharma, Y., Jalalian, P., Caughey, S., Golubickis, M., & Macrae, N. (2025) · Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology · doi:10.1177/17470218251334082
Dominant as Underdogs: Inefficient Search for Dominant-Looking Faces
Ye, S., Xie, B., Lin, X., & Ding, X. (2025) · Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin · doi:10.1177/01461672251331337
Otak manusia terbukti dirancang untuk mencari masalah
Levari, D. E. (2019) · doi:10.64628/aan.qsd4m5avh
¿Por qué nuestro cerebro siempre encuentra problemas?
Levari, D. E. (2018) · doi:10.64628/aao.exf6sy7fq
¿Por qué nuestro cerebro siempre encuentra problemas?
Levari, D. E. (2018) · doi:10.64628/aai.ymxy3tr33
Why your brain never runs out of problems to find
Levari, D. E. (2018) · doi:10.64628/aai.x65n7m3sc
Intersectional Bias in First Impressions of CompetencePreprint
Grèzes, J., Bottein, L., Moreno-Rodriguez, S., & Safra, L. (2025) · PsyArXiv (OSF Preprints) · doi:10.31234/osf.io/vbhne_v2
Trust perception in Syrian refugee children
Chen, Y. D., Qtaishat, L., Lisi, M., Dajani, R. B., Kharouf, A. E., von Stumm, S., Hadfield, K., Mareschal, I., & Michalek, J. E. (2025) · Development and Psychopathology · doi:10.1017/s0954579425100606
Intersectional Bias in First Impressions of CompetencePreprint
Grèzes, J., Bottein, L., Moreno-Rodriguez, S., & Safra, L. (2025) · PsyArXiv (OSF Preprints) · doi:10.31234/osf.io/vbhne_v3
Marini, F., Sutherland, C. A. M., Jeffery, L., & Manassi, M. (2026) · BMC Biology · doi:10.1186/s12915-026-02650-3
Sirigu, A., Lio, G., & Gomez, A. (2019) · OSF Preprints (OSF Preprints)
Palmquist, C. M. (2026) · Cognitive Development · doi:10.1016/j.cogdev.2026.101695
Réduire la stigmatisation de la maladie mentale : du contact imaginé au contact incarné
Schuhl, J. (2020) · theses.fr (ABES) · doi:10.70675/6518276ez4b1fz4a99za875za70c90e5f798
Utilisation d'une mesure indirecte du stéréotype : apport théorique des modèles multinomiaux
Courset, R. (2021) · theses.fr (ABES) · doi:10.70675/c821d1dezea9fz4bb9zbe0az89eb7ec07cae
Race Distorts How Faces Seem (Un)trustworthy
Klein, N. D., Lakshmi, A., Freiburger, E., Hutchings, R. J., & Hugenberg, K. (2026) · Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin · doi:10.1177/01461672261474568
Ventura‐Bort, C., Segarra, P., Ribes‐Guardiola, P., Deák, A., Weymar, M., & Poy, R. (2026) · Research Square · doi:10.21203/rs.3.rs-8830348/v1
Preschoolers use exploratory approaches to selective social learning
Palmquist, C. M., Gum, M. A., & Romero, Y. C. (2026) · Journal of Experimental Child Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.jecp.2026.106672
Metadata
- Authors
- Todorov, A., Dotsch, R., Porter, J. M., Oosterhof, N. N., & Falvello, V. B.
- Affiliations
- Princeton University (US)
- Columbia University (US)
- University of Trento (IT)
- Venue
- Emotion
- Published
- 2013-08
- Volume
- 13
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 724-738
- ISSN
- 1528-3542 (ISSN-L)
- 1931-1516
- OpenAlex
- W2140051380
- Cited by
- 226
- References
- 55
- Citations by year
- 2026: 6 · 2025: 11 · 2024: 13 · 2023: 22 · 2022: 12 · 2021: 36 · 2020: 27 · 2019: 25 · 2018: 25 · 2017: 18 · 2016: 11 · 2015: 13 · 2014: 5 · 2013: 2
- FWCI
- 5.65
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Emotion (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Institutional Research Information System (Università degli Studi di Trento) (submittedVersion)
- Radboud Repository (Radboud University) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Face Recognition and Perception
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Evolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition › Face recognition and analysis
- Keywords
- face perception, computational model, model validation, facial attractiveness, perceived competence, perceived dominance, likeability, threat perception, perceived trustworthiness, facial shape, pigmentation, skin smoothness, face database
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Computer Simulation, Cues, Face, Facial Expression, Female, Humans, Male, Models, Psychological, Pattern Recognition, Visual, Social Perception, Databases, Factual, Young Adult
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