Emily Chan
“These results suggest that people develop according to the stereotype bestowed on them at birth.”
The researchers also used a machine learning system to analyze the similarities and differences between the faces of individuals with the same name.
The computer recognized that adults with the same name looked more similar to each other than adults with different names. In contrast, children with the same name do not show such a pattern.
Finally, the research team artificially aged images of children’s faces to illustrate how they would appear as adults.
The participants were unable to accurately match the faces to their corresponding names as they did with the naturally aged adults.
The researchers concluded that people’s faces change to look like their names through a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Social expectations shape our physical and psychological development, but until now, it has been unclear just how strong the effect was.
“Social structuring is so strong that it can affect a person’s appearance. These findings may imply the extent to which other personal factors that are even more significant than names, such as gender or ethnicity, may shape who people grow up to be,” said Dr. Yonat Zwebner from the Arison School of Business at Reichman University.
The details of the study were published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
