Is There Such a Thing as an “Honest Face”?

Although people in general are not particularly good at spotting lies, some people continue to believe that they can tell by looking into someone’s face if that person is inclined to be dishonest or truthful on a regular basis. But how accurate are such assessments?

A study asked participants to view photographs of the same people as children, adolescents, and adults and to rate their attractiveness and honesty based on an assessment of their faces.

These results were compared to self-reports of honest behavior provided by the people in the photographs. The results demonstrated that structural qualities of the face, such as attractiveness, “babyfaceness,” eye size, and symmetry each individually contributed to perceptions of greater honesty in observers. The self-reports revealed that men who looked more honest early in life actually were more honest as they grew older. On the other hand, women whose behavior was less honest when they were young grew to appear more honest as they aged, even though their behavior did not change significantly. Study participants were able to correctly identify the most honest men in the group as they aged, but their assessment of women was largely inaccurate.

The researchers concluded that men’s faces accurately reflected their tendency toward honesty, but women’s faces were not particularly valid indicators of their truthfulness.