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Relating Facial Trustworthiness to Antisocial Behavior in Adolescent and Adult Men

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Abstract

Here, we investigate how facial trustworthiness—a socially influential appearance variable—interrelates with antisocial behavior across adolescence and middle adulthood. Specifically, adolescents who look untrustworthy may be treated with suspicion, leading to antisocial behavior through expectancy effects. Alternatively, early antisocial behaviors may promote an untrustworthy appearance over time (Dorian Gray effect). We tested these expectancy and Dorian Gray effects in a longitudinal study that followed 206 at-risk boys (90% White) from ages 13–38 years. Parallel process piecewise growth models indicated that facial trustworthiness (assessed from photographs taken prospectively) declined during adolescence and then stabilized in adulthood. Consistent with expectancy effects, initial levels of facial trustworthiness were negatively related to increases in antisocial behavior during adolescence and also during adulthood. Additionally, higher initial levels of antisocial behavior predicted relative decreases in facial trustworthiness across adolescence. Adolescent boys’ facial appearance may therefore both encourage and reflect antisocial behavior over time.

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Data Availability

The analyses reported in this article were not preregistered. The data have been made partially available on a permanent third-party archive (participant ages 13–17 and 19–20 years). Data are uploaded wave by wave, and assessments from participant ages 18 and 21–28 years are still in process. Identifying data—particularly photographs—are not archived for public use. Deidentified data for participant ages 13–17 and 19–20 years can be accessed at [.

Age 13: https://www.icpsr.umich.edu/web/NAHDAP/studies/38246 ;

Age 14: https://www.icpsr.umich.edu/web/NAHDAP/studies/38277 ;

Age 15: https://www.icpsr.umich.edu/web/NAHDAP/studies/38256 ;

Age 16: https://www.icpsr.umich.edu/web/NAHDAP/studies/38279 ;

Age 17: https://www.icpsr.umich.edu/web/NAHDAP/studies/38280 ;

Age 19: https://www.icpsr.umich.edu/web/NAHDAP/studies/38282 ;

Age 20: https://www.icpsr.umich.edu/web/NAHDAP/studies/38283].

Requests for data that were not yet archived at the time of publication should be sent to the corresponding author. Other materials used in this study are widely available.

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Acknowledgements

Thank you to Oregon Youth Study scientists and staff (especially Shivan Tucci and Jane Wilson) for support in accessing archival data; to the research assistants who contributed to processing and coding facial photographs; and to Drs. Frank Bernieri, Kathleen Bogart, Robert Stawski, and Bridget Hatfield for thoughtful discourse on the theoretical and analytical considerations of this project.

Funding

Funding for this work was supported in part by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant number R01 DA015485 from the National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA) awarded to Drs. Capaldi and Kerr. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the NIH or NIDA. NIH or NIDA had no further role in study design; in the collection, analysis, and interpretation of data; in the writing of the report; or in the decision to submit the paper for publication.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Oregon State University, Corvallis, USA

    Zoe M. Alley & David C. R. Kerr

  2. Montclair State University, Montclair, USA

    John Paul Wilson

  3. University of Toronto, Toronto, USA

    Nicholas O. Rule

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  1. Zoe M. Alley
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  2. David C. R. Kerr
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  3. John Paul Wilson
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  4. Nicholas O. Rule
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Contributions

Conceptualization: Zoe M. Alley and David C. R. Kerr; Methodology: Zoe M. Alley and David C. R. Kerr; Formal Analysis: Zoe M. Alley; Investigation: Zoe M. Alley, David C. R. Kerr, John Paul Wilson, and Nicholas Rule; Writing – Original Draft Preparation: Zoe M. Alley and David C. R. Kerr; Writing – Review & Editing; Zoe M. Alley, David C. R. Kerr, John Paul Wilson, and Nicholas Rule. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Zoe M. Alley.

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Informed assent and consent were obtained as applicable from all individual participants and their legal guardians across the duration of the study.

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All procedures performed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. This study was approved by the Oregon Social Learning Center Institutional Review Board.

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Alley, Z.M., Kerr, D.C.R., Wilson, J.P. et al. Relating Facial Trustworthiness to Antisocial Behavior in Adolescent and Adult Men. J Nonverbal Behav 47, 385–402 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10919-023-00432-x

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