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 academicresearch, 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.

Michael Corkery

• connection [kə´nekʃən] n.联系；关系；联运 (初中英语单词)
• bureau [´bjuərəu] n.局；编辑部；事务所 (初中英语单词)
• research [ri´sə:tʃ] n.&vi.调查；探究；研究 (初中英语单词)
• effective [i´fektiv] a.有效的；有力的 (初中英语单词)
• review [ri´vju:] v.&n.复习；回顾；检查 (初中英语单词)
• worker [´wə:kə] n.工人；劳动者；工作者 (初中英语单词)
• knowing [´nəuiŋ] a.会意的，心照不宣的 (初中英语单词)
• politics [´pɔlitiks] n.政治(学)；政治活动 (初中英语单词)
• candidate [´kændideit] n.候选人；投考者 (初中英语单词)
• competent [´kɔmpitənt] a.能干的，有资格的 (高中英语单词)
• finding [´faindiŋ] n.发现物；判断；结果 (高中英语单词)
• psychology [sai´kɔlədʒi] n.心理(学) (高中英语单词)
• accuracy [´ækjurəsi] n.准确(性)；精密度 (高中英语单词)
• response [ri´spɔns] n.回答；响应 (高中英语单词)
• confident [´kɔnfidənt] a.有信心的，自信的 (高中英语单词)
• essentially [i´senʃəli] ad.本质上，基本上 (英语四级单词)
• superficial [,su:pə´fiʃəl, ,sju:-] a.表面的，肤浅的 (英语四级单词)
• academic [,ækə´demik] a.学术的 n.大学学生 (英语四级单词)
• inference [´infərəns] n.推论，推断(的结果) (英语四级单词)
• facial [´feiʃəl] a.面部的，脸部的 (英语六级单词)
• rivalry [´raivəlri] n.竞争；竞赛；敌对 (英语六级单词)