Proceedings of The International Conference on Research in Psychology
Year: 2019
DOI:
The Effects of Eyeglasses on Social Judgments:Summary and Perspectives
Yasuto Okamura
ABSTRACT:
C Research in social psychology suggests that social judgments of others are formed on the basis of two dimensions: warmth and competence. Attractiveness is also considered an important factor. To influence the perception of these traits, eyeglasses can be an effective ornament. In fact, previous studies have reported that eyeglasses can change impressions both positively and negatively regarding the wearer’s faces. We propose that eyeglasses have an influence on our social judgments of both others and self. We conducted several studies dealing with the effects of eyeglasses on social judgments and confirmed robust results. Our findings are in line with previous studies which found that eyeglasses increase the perception of competence. Moreover,it has been found that eyeglasses differently influence various dimensions of attractiveness: a face with eyeglasses is judged less pretty and less good-looking, but more elegant. The shape of eyeglasses also influences social judgments: a round shape enhances the warmth perception while a square shape increases the competence perception. We discuss the theoretical implications and outline directions for future research.
Keywords: eyeglasses; social judgments; warmth; competence; attractiveness.