Browsing by Person "Little, Anthony C."

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Leadership perception in candidate faces: Scotland’s unionists prefer dominant leaders, and so do nationalists – but only if they are economic pessimists
(Edinburgh University Press, 2019-10-31) Knowles, Kristen K.; Little, Anthony C.
Voters rely on many cues to make decisions about who to vote for, and the appearance of a potential leader can play an important part in this decision-making process. When choosing leaders, it is thought that voters make “fit-to-task” voting decisions, for example, exhibiting a preference for masculine-looking leaders in hypothetical wartime scenarios, when masculine behavioural characteristics would be most valued. Here, we examine face preferences within a sample of Scottish voters during the campaign for the 2014 Scottish independence referendum. Subjects were presented with masculinised and feminised versions of faces in a forced-choice experimental task to select their preferred face in a hypothetical national election. No voters (those who voted to maintain the Union) chose more masculine-faced hypothetical leaders than Yes voters (those who voted in favour of an independent Scotland); effect sizes observed were medium. Within Yes voters, economic concern was related to a preference for masculine faces, but for No voters, economic outlook did not relate to face preferences. These findings underscore the importance of real-world socio-political contexts in psychology research, particularly that concerning the public perception of different leadership prototypes. Implications in the current Scottish context are discussed.
Vocal fundamental and formant frequencies affect perceptions of speaker cooperativeness
(Taylor & Francis, 2015-09-11) Knowles, Kristen K.; Little, Anthony C.
In recent years, the perception of social traits in faces and voices has received much attention. Facial and vocal masculinity are linked to perceptions of trustworthiness, however, while feminine faces are generally considered to be trustworthy, vocal trustworthiness is associated with masculinised vocal features. Vocal traits such as pitch and formants have previously been associated with perceived social traits such as trustworthiness and dominance, but the link between these measurements and perceptions of cooperativeness have yet to be examined. In Study 1, cooperativeness ratings of male and female voices were examined against four vocal measurements: fundamental frequency (F0), pitch variation (F0-SD), formant dispersion (Df) and formant position (Pf). Feminine pitch traits (F0 and F0-SD) and masculine formant traits (Df and Pf) were associated with higher cooperativeness ratings. In Study 2, manipulated voices with feminised F0 were found more cooperative than voices with masculinised F0 among both male and female speakers, confirming our results from Study 1. Feminine pitch qualities may indicate an individual who is friendly and non-threatening, while masculine formant qualities may reflect an individual that is socially dominant or prestigious, and the perception of these associated traits may influence the perceived cooperativeness of the speakers.