HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Engell, A. D. Articles by Todorov, A. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Engell, A. D. Articles by Todorov, A.

Implicit Trustworthiness Decisions: Automatic Coding of Face Properties in the Human Amygdala

Princeton University

Reprint requests should be sent to Alexander Todorov, Department of Psychology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08540, or via e-mail: atodorov{at}princeton.edu.

Deciding whether an unfamiliar person is trustworthy is one of the most important decisions in social environments. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging to show that the amygdala is involved in implicit evaluations of trustworthiness of faces, consistent with prior findings. The amygdala response increased as perceived trustworthiness decreased in a task that did not demand person evaluation. More importantly, we tested whether this response is due to an individual's idiosyncratic perception or to face properties that are perceived as untrustworthy across individuals. The amygdala response was better predicted by consensus ratings of trustworthiness than by an individual's own judgments. Individual judgments accounted for little residual variance in the amygdala after controlling for the shared variance with consensus ratings. These findings suggest that the amygdala automatically categorizes faces according to face properties commonly perceived to signal untrustworthiness.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				A. E. Pinkham, J. B. Hopfinger, K. Ruparel, and D. L. Penn An Investigation of the Relationship Between Activation of a Social Cognitive Neural Network and Social Functioning Schizophr Bull, July 1, 2008; 34(4): 688 - 697. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				A. Todorov, S. G. Baron, and N. N. Oosterhof Evaluating face trustworthiness: a model based approach Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci, June 1, 2008; 3(2): 119 - 127. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				A. Todorov and I. R. Olson Robust learning of affective trait associations with faces when the hippocampus is damaged, but not when the amygdala and temporal pole are damaged Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci, May 23, 2008; (2008) nsn013v1. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				A. TODOROV Evaluating Faces on Trustworthiness: An Extension of Systems for Recognition of Emotions Signaling Approach/Avoidance Behaviors Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci., March 1, 2008; 1124(1): 208 - 224. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]