Document Type
Preprint
Publication Date
9-1-2023
Journal / Book Title
Journal of Nonverbal Behavior
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.
DOI
10.1007/s10919-023-00432-x
MSU Digital Commons Citation
Alley, Zoe M.; Kerr, David C.R.; Wilson, John Paul; and Rule, Nicholas O., "Relating Facial Trustworthiness to Antisocial Behavior in Adolescent and Adult Men" (2023). Department of Psychology Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works. 670.
https://digitalcommons.montclair.edu/psychology-facpubs/670
Rights
HHS Public Access Author manuscript; available in PMC 2024 June 07. Published in final edited form as: J Nonverbal Behav. 2023 September ; 47(3): 385–402. doi:10.1007/s10919-023-00432-x.