PSYCHOSOCIAL EFFECTS OF VARIATONS IN FACIAL MATURITY

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The long range objective of the proposed research is to identify both the origins and consequences of appearance-based social perceptions. A person's appearance has a strong impact on social expectations and social interactions. While this is often adaptive, as when we correctly utilize age-related appearance information, it can also contribute to stereotyping, as when we perceive babyfaced adults to be weak, submissive, and naive. Such stereotyped perceptions may yield social discrimination and self- fulfilling prophecies--i.e., expectancy confirming behaviors - with deleterious effects on a person's self-esteem. The proposed research tests a model of behavioral development in which personality is a function of a person's genotypic temperament and social experiences that are shaped in part by the person's physical appearance. The focus is on the appearance quality of facial maturity although facial attractiveness and body characteristics are also considered. To achieve the specific aims of this research, a life span developmental approach will be employed utilizing longitudinal data from the archives of the Institute of Human Development (IHD) at the University of California, Berkeley. This data set includes photographs of individuals from early childhood through older adulthood, as well as various personality, anthropometric, intellectual, and demographic measures. The research has four specific aims. One aim is to determine the stability of a babyface across the lifespan. A second aim is to determine whether facial maturity is an accurate indictor of traits - i.e., is there a kernel of truth to the babyface stereotypes? A third aim is to determine whether facial maturity affects educational and occupational attainments. A final aim is to determine the impact of facial maturity on personality across the lifespan. Does a babyface contribute to the development of certain traits? Is the continuity of personality impacted by the degree of continuity in babyfacedness? The understanding of the origins and manifestations of appearance-based social perceptions that this research will provide can inform interventions designed to foster appropriate utilization of the information given in appearance and to diminish its maladaptive uses.