People Can Tell If You’re Rich Just By Looking At Your Face

A new study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology posits there’s a good chance you can tell if someone is rich or poor just by looking at them.

READ ALSO: ‘I Have Saved A lot Of Men Who Last 40-seconds In Bed’- Tonto Dikeh

In general, people with money tend to live happier, less anxious lives compared to those struggling to make ends meet. The researchers demonstrated “that these well-being differences are actually reflected in people’s faces.”

READ ALSO: Arrested Port Harcourt Serial Killer Confesses How He Traps Victims

“People are not really aware of what cues they are using when they make those judgments,” the researchers said. “If you ask them why, they don’t know. They are not aware of how they are doing this.”

READ ALSO: US Marine Remix ‘Water No Get Enemy’ By Fela Kuti

When the researchers showed some students photos of people looking visibly happy, they could not discern socioeconomic status any better than chance. The expressions needed to be neutral for the subtle cues to have an effect.

READ ALSO: A Student Was Fatally Stabbed While Onlookers Took Videos Of His Suffering

“Over time, your face comes to permanently reflect and reveal your experiences. Even when we think we’re not expressing something, relics of those emotions are still there.”

READ ALSO: Video Shows SHS Teacher ‘Chopping’ Student In Classroom

Finally, to show how these kinds of first impressions could come into play in the real world, the researchers again asked some students to decide who in the photos would be most likely to land a job as an accountant. More often than not, they went with people from the upper class.

READ ALSO: R. Kelly & 4 Other Celebrities Whose Careers Were Flawed Due To Sex Scandals

“Face-based perceptions of social class may have important downstream consequences,” they concluded.