Age similarities in recognizing threat from faces and diagnostic cues.

BACKGROUND Previous research indicates that younger adults (YA) can identify men's tendency to be aggressive based merely on their neutral expression faces. We compared older adults (OA) and YA accuracy and investigated contributing facial cues. METHOD In Study 1, YA and OA rated the aggressiveness of young men depicted in facial photographs in a control, distraction, or accuracy motivation condition. In Study 2, YA and OA rated how angry, attractive, masculine, and babyfaced the men looked in addition to rating their aggressiveness. These measures plus measured facial width-to-height ratio (FWHR) were used to examine cues to aggressiveness. RESULTS Accuracy coefficients, calculated by correlating rated aggressiveness with the men's previously measured actual aggressiveness, were significant and equal for OA and YA. Accuracy was not moderated by distraction or accuracy motivation, suggesting automatic processing. A greater FWHR, lower attractiveness, and higher masculinity independently influenced rated aggressiveness by both age groups and also were valid cues to actual aggressiveness. DISCUSSION Despite previous evidence for positivity biases in OA, they can be just as accurate as YA when it comes to discerning actual differences in the aggressiveness of young men.