New study shows we can tell Democrats from Republicans in head shots

[Newsjock]

Source: Scientific American

You can tell a lot about a person by their face—even their political affiliation, new research claims.

In a study published in the January 18 issue of PLoS One, subjects were able to accurately identify candidates from the 2004 and 2006 U.S. Senate elections as either Democrats or Republicans based on black-and-white photos of their faces. And subjects were even able to correctly identify college students as belonging to Democratic or Republican clubs based on their yearbook photos.

To investigate the basis of these judgments, subjects were asked to rate photos of faces on a seven-point scale assessing personality traits such as assertiveness, maturity, likeability and trustworthiness. Subjects consistently associated Democrats with warmth (likeable and trustworthy) and Republicans with power (dominant and mature). These findings were independent of the gender of the person in the photo.

The authors concluded that people possess "a general and imperfect" ability to infer political affiliation based on facial appearance, which is related to stereotypes about Democrat and Republican personalities. The ability to surmise other perceptually ambiguous traits, such as sexual orientation and religious group membership, has been reported in similar studies.

Read more: http://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/post.cfm?id=a-face-for-politics-new-study-shows-2010-01-27

[Richard D]

1. Huh . . .

. . . so it's more complicated than that funny pointed protrusion they have on the top of their heads?

[notadmblnd]

2. not surprising

I can tell if people are dem or repuke just by looking at them, at least 90% of the time. It's a look repukes have in their eyes.

[GreenPartyVoter]

3. No kidding.

[theothersnippywshrub]

4. Sounds like Dorian Graydar. People sense the hideous portraits of republicans. n/t

[OffWithTheirHeads]

5. It's easy. Rethugs have no lips.

[iamtechus]

10. I've noticed that. Sometimes they're referred to as "reptilian". nt

[BlancheSplanchnik]

6. rape-publicans = mature???

that's some strange concept of what maturity is.

I'd associate them with the most primitive, animalistic expressions of power: control, aggression and cruelty to those weaker than they, obsequious bootlicking towards those "above" them, disregard for right or wrong.......

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

7. If it's an African American or Hispanic face = Not a Republican.

[hlthe2b]

8. REGUPs have the look of a bully.... something we learn early in life

Even the ignorant sheeple teabaggers-- have been indoctrinated into the bully power paradigm. They follow it with verbal abuse, antagonistic attitude, and hateful, chip-on-the shoulder countenance-- always ready for a fight. Those visual cues are not hard to spot.

[DarthCheney]

9. I don't know about this study,

but repub women often have that condescending, "I am so much better than you" tone to their voices.


That is until they or one of their daughters want an abortion, or equal pay, or education funding, or disaster compensation, or unemployment compensation, or medicare,or social security, or clean air and water, or they want to sue someone, and all the rest.

[Jamastiene]

11. I've been doing it unscientifically for years.

I can tell a conservadem from a progressive Democrat in a heartbeat by looking at their eyes.

I'm just glad to see there is science now that proves it is possible. People thought I was crazy. I might still be crazy, but I was right about this.

[Bluebear]

12. The hair is a good starting point.

Bad rugs on the men, big hair on the women usually means (R)