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Influence of infant and child facial cues of low body weight on adults' ratings of adoption preference, cuteness, and health
Author(s) -
Volk Anthony A.,
Lukjanczuk Janeen M.,
Quinsey Ver L.
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
infant mental health journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.693
H-Index - 75
eISSN - 1097-0355
pISSN - 0163-9641
DOI - 10.1002/imhj.20064
Subject(s) - preference , psychology , perception , developmental psychology , body weight , cognition , facial expression , body shape , medicine , communication , endocrinology , neuroscience , economics , microeconomics , pathology
Infant and child facial cues have been shown to influence decisions and perceptions associated with parental care in adults. Low body weight reflects health problems in infants and children; therefore, facial cues associated with low body weight may influence adult cognitive processes associated with parental care and investment. Facial images of infants and children were digitally manipulated to simulate cues of low body weight and presented to adults using a hypothetical adoption paradigm. Participants' ratings of adoption preference, cuteness, and health were significantly lower for the digitally manipulated low body weight facial images than their unaltered counterparts. These findings support the hypothesis that facial cues of poor health negatively influence adults' responses to infants and children.