How Our Past Shapes Who We Trust

Ever wondered why we instantly trust some strangers but not others? It turns out, our past experiences play a big role in shaping these quick judgments. Researchers wanted to find out how our brains use past knowledge to decide who seems trustworthy.

The Role of Past Experiences

They looked into something called stimulus generalisation. This is a learning principle where what we know about one thing influences how we feel about something similar. For example, if you like a certain type of dog, you might also like a similar-looking dog.

The Study

In this case, they wanted to see if this principle applies to faces. They used a clever method to test this. They took pictures of celebrities and manipulated them to look like strangers. Then, they asked people to rate how trustworthy these stranger faces seemed.

The Results

The results were clear. People's opinions of the celebrities directly affected how they felt about the stranger faces that looked like them. This happened in three different studies with people from two countries: the UK and Australia. So, it wasn't just a one-time thing.

Even when they considered other factors like facial features and personal differences, the results stayed strong. This means our past experiences really do shape who we trust.

The Implications

This research shows that forming impressions isn't just about what we see in the moment. It's also about what we've learned in the past. It's a mix of visual clues and past experiences that helps us decide who to trust.

This work is important because it connects different areas of study. It shows how person perception, attitude formation, and learning principles all overlap.