Cite as:
Lee B, Hill M D, Winkler I, 2001, "Perceiving genuineness in human faces" Perception 30 ECVP Abstract Supplement

Perceiving genuineness in human faces

B Lee, M D Hill, I Winkler

We investigated whether a direct signal for genuineness can be detected from human faces, as suggested by Ekman [1992 Telling Lies (New York: W W Norton)]. Two video reels were constructed each comprising 12 short video clips. One hundred and eighty-one participants viewed either reel 1 or reel 2. Both reels depicted the same six male and six female actors, presenting a biography of themselves. The actors were depicted in one reel presenting a true autobiography, and in the other a false autobiography. Each reel contained six true and six false autobiographies. Participants indicated after each clip whether they perceived the biography to be true or false. At the end of the experiment participants rated the actors for likeability from stills taken from the clips. Likeability was assessed to see whether perceived genuineness directly afforded a change of attitude. We found that (i) participants scored better than chance at detecting autobiographical genuineness; (ii) accuracy scores were higher for actor-genuine biographies than for nongenuine ones; (iii) female participants were more accurate when judging female actors; and (iv) rated likeability was higher for actors correctly judged genuine than when correctly judged nongenuine. The results indicate the existence of a signal for genuineness, which is gender attuned, and directly causes a change of attitude.

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