PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Todorov, Alexander AU - Mandisodza, Anesu N. AU - Goren, Amir AU - Hall, Crystal C. TI - Inferences of Competence from Faces Predict Election Outcomes AID - 10.1126/science.1110589 DP - 2005 Jun 10 TA - Science PG - 1623--1626 VI - 308 IP - 5728 4099 - http://science.sciencemag.org/content/308/5728/1623.short 4100 - http://science.sciencemag.org/content/308/5728/1623.full SO - Science2005 Jun 10; 308 AB - We show that inferences of competence based solely on facial appearance predicted the outcomes of U.S. congressional elections better than chance (e.g., 68.8% of the Senate races in 2004) and also were linearly related to the margin of victory. These inferences were specific to competence and occurred within a 1-second exposure to the faces of the candidates. The findings suggest that rapid, unreflective trait inferences can contribute to voting choices, which are widely assumed to be based primarily on rational and deliberative considerations.