A recentstudy set out to discoverthe limits and the potential of representing someone as moretrustworthy and competent in ourphotographs.
“Our findings show that facial cues conveying trustworthiness are malleable while facial cues conveying competence and ability are significantly less so” says Jonathan Freeman. “The results suggest you can influence to an extent how trustworthy others perceive you to be in a facial photo, but perceptions of your competence or ability are considerably less able to be changed.”
Apparently, trustworthiness can be engineered, but competence can’t… or can it?
I set out to find out.
How to look more trustworthy
The study foundthat people with facial traits that resemble an angry expression (downturned brows) weredeemed less trustworthy than people with upturned eyebrows and mouth (resembling a slight smile).
The spectrum between less and more trustworthy is represented in this graphic:
This can be a challenge if yourfacial structure naturally resembles the expression of anger (discussed in detail here),and you will want to work with someone who has experience in coaching expressions toachieve amore friendly relaxed expression.
Perceived competenceand focal length
The study went on to uncoverthat perceived competence is based on a person’s facial width-to-height ratiowhich is based on a person’s bone structure, andthat thinner facial structures areperceived as less competent than wider facial bone structures.
“Unlike trustworthiness, which is conveyed largely by the face’s dynamic musculature, [perceived competence] is based in the face’s skeletal structure which cannot be changed for the most part.” Freeman said.
As a photographer, I have to disagree to a certain extent. This is not entirely true becausethe focal length we usewhen shooting will drastically impact thisfacial width-to-height ratio.
Using a shorter focal lengthdistorts the face, and the shorter the focal length, the thinner the face is going toappear, which consequently willimpact our subject’s perceived competence.
However, the longer the focal length, the "flatter" - and wider - the face is going to appear, as demonstrated in the images below.
With the advent of "selfies" as profile pictures, we see a lot of distorted pictures because the closer the camera is to your face, the shorter the focal length is going to be and more distortion you're going to get.
If shooting your own profile picture, you'll want to make sure that you're shooting as far away as possible, using a selfie stick or tripod for example, and zooming in to reduce this distortion.
In practice
Taking all this information into consideration, I set out to see if I could make my modellook more (or less) trustworthy and competent andcreated two images based on the spectrum extremes shared by the study.
To answer the question “can we appear moretrustworthy and competent in your pictures?” looking at those two pictures above, I’d say we can impact both positively and negatively our imagedepending on how the image is created.
In conclusion
- Expressions of anger (real or perceived) will impact the feelings of trust towards the person in the image, while a friendly expression will increase their perceived trustworthiness.
- A thin face will be perceivedas less competent and using a short focal length can increase this perception.
- To make your subjects appear competent and trustworthy you’ll want to use longer focal lengths and coach your subject into a happier expression.
- ps. a little pro tip... crossed arms are linked to feelings of defensiveness and protection which will also impact yourtrustworthiness score. Unless you're wanting to portray an image of someone who is not open to discussion, I suggest to stay away from this cue too.
Danielle (Dee) Libine is the author of a photographer's guide to body language and helps people create the right image for their personal brand.
