Did you know that a person's outward appearance, such as a person's face, can describe their socioeconomic status? This is evidenced by a study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.
From the results of the study, it was revealed that a person can tell whether another person is rich or poor just by looking at his face, you know. In general, people who have money tend to be happier and less anxious, when compared to those who have to struggle to make ends meet.
"The relationship between wealth and social class has been widely discussed in previous studies. However, this study found that differences in a person's wealth can be reflected in each person's face," explained R-Thora Bjorsdottir, the researcher who conducted the study and the research launched from CNBC Make It.
Through research conducted, Bjorsdottir and colleagues, a psychology professor Nicholas O. Rule chose the subject of a black and white photo consisting of 80 photos of men and 80 photos of women.
The photos show figures with neutral expressions, no piercings or tattoos, half of whom are from the upper class, while the rest are from the working class.
Then, the photos were shown to the research subjects, where they were asked to guess the social class of each figure in the photo. Apparently, as many as 68% of research subjects answered correctly.
However, the research subjects did not have a definite answer when asked how they could correctly guess who was rich or poor. Through further research, it was found that the subjects could guess correctly when they only looked at the eyes and mouth.
The researchers concluded that this may be because patterns of emotion can be seen on a person's face over time. Contraction of certain muscles can cause changes in facial structure that can be seen by others.
So, what other signs on the face can indicate if the person is rich or poor?
It turns out that a person's outward appearance can describe his socioeconomic status. This is evidenced by a study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. The study revealed that a person can tell whether another person is rich or poor just by looking at his face.
"The relationship between wealth and social class has been widely discussed in previous research. However, this study found that differences in a person's wealth can be reflected in each person's face," said R-Thora Bjorsdottir, researcher of the study as reported by CNBC Make It.
In general, people who have money tend to be happier and less anxious than those who struggle to make ends meet.
In conducting the study, Bjornsdottir and his co-author, psychology professor Nicholas O. Rule, chose a black and white photo subject consisting of 80 photos of men and 80 photos of women. There are no photos with tattoos or piercings. All the faces in the photo also show neutral expressions. Half of the people in the photos are upper class people, and the other half are working class.
The photos were then shown to the research subjects. They were asked to guess the social class of each person. As a result, as many as 68 percent answered correctly.
"I didn't think the effect would be that strong, especially considering how thin the difference was on the face. This was the most surprising part of the study," said Rule.
However, the study subjects did not have a definite answer when asked how they could guess correctly.
"When asked why, they don't know. They don't realize how they got it right," said Bjornsdottir.
The researchers then carried out further studies by enlarging facial features. They found that the subjects could still guess correctly when they only looked at the eyes and mouth.
The researchers concluded that this may be because patterns of emotion can be seen on a person's face over time. Contraction of certain muscles can cause changes in facial structure that can be seen by others.
"Over time, your face permanently reflects and expresses your experiences. Even when we think we're not expressing something, those emotional expressions are still there," says Rule.