# Validation of facial attributions in leadership: Trustworthiness and age in Chinese mid-level management

## TL;DR

This study shows that in Chinese mid-level management, people are judged as leaders based more on how trustworthy and how old they look than on competence or attractiveness.

## Contribution

The study extends facial attribution research to mid-level management in a Chinese organizational context.

## Key findings

- Apparent trustworthiness is a key predictor of leadership in Chinese mid-level management.
- Facial age perception also strongly influences leadership selection in this context.
- Competence and attractiveness are less important than trustworthiness and age for leadership attainment.

## Abstract

The attributions made to faces are well described by two dimensions of apparent trustworthiness (valence or warmth) and apparent competence (dominance and power) (Todorov A, Mende-Siedlecki P, Dotsch R. Curr Opin Neurobiol, 2013, 23, 373–80). This model has been extended to include a third dimension of apparent age and attractiveness (Sutherland CAM, Oldmeadow JA, Santos IM, Towler J, Michael Burt D, Young AW. Cognition, 2013, 127, 105–18). Previous research has tested the association between appearance and leadership attainment for high-level leaders such as elite politicians and chief executive officers of top performing organisations in the US and Western Europe. Here we focus on a Chinese organisational context and explore how facial attributions are associated with appointment at mid-level managerial positions. Participants rated leadership, competence, trustworthiness, attractiveness and age of faces of male employees of a Chinese Real Estate company. Our findings reveal that apparent trustworthiness and age are more critical predictors of leadership attainment than competence or attractiveness in the context of mid-level management in China. The study supports the three-dimensional attribution framework and reaffirms the importance of facial cues in leadership selection across diverse cultural settings.