Scientific methods help predict election results

Based on the candidate's face analysis, scientists can make a fairly accurate prediction about the voter-favorite leader.

Scientists said the face greatly influenced the social assessments of a person, including elections, according to the BBC. Voters tend to vote for candidates who look good, reliable, old, attractive and familiar.

George Washington (left) and Abraham Lincoln (right) have a special face.(Photo: YouTube).

George Washington knows the advantage of his forehead. He believed it would be better if the forehead looked taller and wider. To emphasize this trait, he often combed his hair back and tied it, perfecting his powerful masculine appearance with curls and a ribbon.

Scientific research shows that the face of a politician greatly influences the election rate , even many voters may not realize this.

Psychologists have long known that first impressions are important. For example, people often assume that those who own deer eyes and thick lips will be reliable, while those with large faces are often aggressive.

These evaluations are unconscious , inconsistent and happen at a very fast pace, possibly in just 33 milliseconds. "People talk about our research as follows: 'Oddly enough, I barely caught sight of it as a face," said Alexander Todorov, a psychologist from Princeton University.

First impressions have a great impact and form very quickly.(Photo: Entrepreneur).

People often expect CEOs or military personnel to have strong faces, while care workers should have a cute face. If there is a suitable face, the ability of you to be successful and develop your career will be higher.

Assessment and prejudice also affect politics. Before voting, voters often evaluate candidates' talents, but it is worth noting that they have these evaluations through the faces of those who will be voted.

The influence of candidates' faces was so strong that psychologists correctly guessed the results of the elections in the US, Bulgaria, France, Australia, Mexico, Finland, and Japan, the proportion of votes cast in Upper Japan. American institutions, US House of Representatives and state governor elections are only thanks to these characteristics.

Volunteers participating in the research were completely ignorant of the candidates. They only see portraits and are asked to assess each person's ability. This method can be used to predict the results of foreign elections and be effective despite asking the elderly or children.

"Many good candidates have a much lower chance of being elected because of their appearance," said Gabriel Lenz, a political scientist from the University of California.

The face of the influence of public opinion on the capacity of a leader appeared thousands of years ago. The ancients called the method of character assessment through the face as a technique of looking at generals .

Cyrus the Great's nose became the norm for many generations to come.(Photo: Arhivurokov).

Cyrus the Great, the founder of the first Persian Empire, possessed a long, slightly crooked and pointed nose. This nose became the royal standard for many generations to come. Only those with similar characteristics can be granted a high title. Even the young men even bundled their noses in the hope that it will grow long and bounce like that.

The first impressions are often wrong, but people have very similar impressions."They are very consistent, even with thousands of people," said Jon Freeman, a psychologist at New York University.

Voters tend to vote for politicians who look good, reliable, old, attractive and familiar. In an election, candidates with such faces often have a higher chance of winning.

Many of these features are obvious, but it is more difficult to explain what a good looking face is. In 2010, Todorov and expert Christopher Olivola from Carnegie Mellon University conducted a study to better understand this.

First, they instructed computers about the appearance of a good leader by randomly creating multiple faces and asking volunteers to assess the capabilities of these "fake" candidates. Then they used the information they collected to create new faces, some edited to look extremely good.

British Prime Minister Theresa May is one of the few female leaders.(Photo: The Triangle).

Gradually, the team discovered fundamental changes such as the narrowing of the eyebrows and eyes, the round face lessened, the cheekbones protruding higher, angular jaws. Good looking faces are the most attractive, mature and masculine faces."You may find it a little uncomfortable because of gender discrimination. People favor a man's face , " Todorov said.

Whether these biases are innate or because learning is still a mystery. Freeman is more inclined to the second possibility, meaning the concept of the appearance of a talented leader formed during social contact. The US government currently has 80% of men, the average age in the House of Representatives is 57.8 and the Senate is 61.8, according to the BBC. In the world, only 9 leaders are under 40 and 15 are women.

But if these concepts are not innate, they can also change. " The more women succeed in leadership, for example in the UK, the more people can change their mind," Todorov said.

Austrian elected Prime Minister Sebastian Kurz is only 31 years old.(Photo: 6abc).

Many young leaders can also contribute to changing the opinion that talented people must look old. French President Emmanuel Macron is 39 years old, while Sebastian Kurz, the future Austrian prime minister, becomes the youngest leader in Europe at the age of 31.

However, some other biased thoughts are more difficult to remove. Psychological research indicates, people tend to like familiar things, such as their own faces.

In 2006, psychologists from Stanford University conducted a fake election. The research team showed students photos of candidates and asked to vote. However, it is actually a modified portrait, mixed between the candidate's face and the students themselves they do not know. As a result, students favor candidates who look more like themselves.

In addition to the familiar face effect , the most attractive face politicians also benefit from the appearance on TV, especially for voters without extensive knowledge. "Although the public tries to avoid political issues, they are still affected," Lenz said.