title: In beauty we trust: children prefer information from more attractive informants.
abstract: Preschool children were presented with slides on a computer screen showing a novel object, together with two informants, one with an attractive and one with a less attractive face. Children were asked which informant they would like to ask about the name of the novel object. After hearing the informants provide conflicting names, they were asked who they thought was correct. Children were more likely to endorse names provided by the person with the more attractive face, a bias that cannot be justified on epistemic grounds. The implications of this finding are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Clark University, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA; Department of Psychology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.
authors.forename: Igor
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Bascandziev
authors.forename: Paul L
authors.initials: PL
authors.lastname: Harris
mesh_terms: D001504:Beauty; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007600:Judgment; D008297:Male; D002666:Psychology, Child; D035502:Trust
keywords: attractiveness; epistemic status; selective trust