Ahh, the rigor of the Ivory Tower: the data sets, the regression math…the facial analysis?
Duke University researchers, in connection with the National Bureau of Economic Research, have found that CEOs are perceived to have more competent faces than non-CEOs. The Duke researchers also concluded that people responded more favorably to the faces of CEOs from large companies than from small business.
Another interesting finding from the 20-page report: that 'baby-faced' CEOs received lower 'competence' scores than more-mature looking CEOs and tended to be paid less, though on the plus side, the baby facers got higher likability ratings.
And yet, 'we find no evidence that the firms of competent looking CEOs perform better,' the study concludes. Essentially, the 'look' of competence says very little about effective competence.'
In fact, a 1995 study in 'Personality & Social Psychology Bulletin,' which was cited in the Duke study, showed that 'baby faced' people, judged to be less competent, tend to be more intelligent.
The Duke study, which was published in March, asked students from Duke and University of North Carolina, to examine photographs about 1,500 CEOs. (To assure accuracy from a data set comprised of the N.C. antagonists, the researchers explained in a footnote, 'The email to University of North Carolina students was sent from our nber.org email addresses to avoid any Duke/UNC rivalry effects and to maximize the response rate.')
So does any of this really matter? Well, yes. As superficial as it sounds, the research does hold up.
Physical appearance has been the subject of much academic research, such as a 1994 study in the American Economic Review that looked at the 'beauty premium,'' which determined that workers of 'above average' beauty earn more than worker with 'below average' looks.
Other studies have asked people to look at the faces of political candidates, for a split second, while knowing nothing about the candidates' politics. The inference people make about whether a person looks confident often corresponds to whether that candidate gets elected.
Looks can be deceiving, but they still matter.
啊，象牙塔生活的艰苦：数据组、回归数学……面部分析？
杜克大学与美国国家经济研究局(National Bureau of Economic Research)联合进行的研究发现，首席执行长(CEO)的脸比普通人看上去更有能力。杜克研究人员还得出结论，相比小公司CEO的脸，人们更喜欢大公司CEO的脸。
这份20页的报告还有另外一个有趣的发现：有着娃娃脸的CEO比长相更成熟的CEO的能力得分要低，收入也往往要低，不过好处是，娃娃脸CEO获得的讨喜评分更高。
不过研究得出结论，我们没有发现有证据显示外表看起来有能力的CEO领导的公司业绩会更好。实际上，外表看上去的能力无法体现实际能力。
实际上，1995年《个性与社会心理学通报》(Personality & Social Psychology Bulletin)上发表的一项研究显示，娃娃脸的人虽然让人感觉能力不足，却往往更聪明。杜克的研究援引了《个性与社会心理学通报》的研究结果。
杜克的研究发表于3月份。该研究请杜克大学和北卡罗来纳大学的学生仔细观察了约1,500名CEO的照片。（研究人员在脚注中解释说，为了确保北卡罗来纳大学学生构成的数据组的准确性，给北卡罗来纳大学学生的电子邮件是从我们的nber.org电子邮件地址发出去的，以避免杜克大学和北卡罗来纳大学之间竞争带来的影响、获得最大的回应率。）
那么，研究结果真的重要吗？是的。尽管听起来很肤浅，研究结果确实是属实的。
人的外表一直是很多学术研究的主题，比如1994年《美国经济评论》(American Economic Review)中发表的一项研究就对“美丽带来的额外好处”进行了研究，得出的结论是“中上”姿色的员工比“中下”姿色的人挣的要多。
在其他研究中，人们在对政治候选人的政治主张一无所知的情况下，对候选人的脸部进行瞬间的观察。人们对一个候选人看起来是否自信的判断往往和此人能否当选有很大关系。
外表或许具有欺骗性，不过仍很重要。作者: tingroom 时间: 2011-6-1 10:59
