We Like a Winning Face

We like to think we’re pretty sophisticated when it comes to voting for politicians. Oh, sure, we’ve all heard that the taller guy usually wins. But we’re being smart—we consider their policies and positions.

Or maybe not. Researchers at the University of Lausanne in Switzerland say our decisions are often based on appearance—and that we’re no different from children. The finding appears in the February 27 issue of the journal Science.

Scientists took photos of the winner and the runner -up from a 2002 election in France. They showed the two photos to people in Switzerland who hadn’t heard of either candidate. They asked—who do you think would be the most competent?

Well, most study participants chose the actual winner. Then it was time for the kids. More than 600 children played a game involving a computer-simulated boat trip. They were asked which person they’d prefer to captain the ship. And most of the kids also chose the actual election winner.

Study authors say they don’t know which specific facial cues kids and grown-ups are using to make their decisions. Voting is one of democracy’s most important civic duties. But for a lot of voters, it looks like it’s about liking looks.

我们喜欢获胜的面容

当说到投票选举政客，我们认为自己很老练。当然了，我们都听说过高个子的家伙通常都会赢。但是我们也很聪明——我们会考虑他们的政策以及政治立场。

或者我们根本不理会他们的政策和立场。瑞士洛桑大学（University of Lausanne）的研究者们说我们的决定通常基于我们所看到的选举对象的外表——这和孩子们以外表下结论没有什么区别。这项研究结果发表在2月27日的《科学》(Science)杂志上。



科学家们把2002年法国选举的赢家和“输家”进行了拍照（译者注：虽然这里用的是第二名“runner up”，实际上在大选中只有一个赢家）。他们把这两张照片显示给在瑞士的人们，这些人从没有听说过这些候选人。科学家们问：你认为谁更胜任？

大多数的参与者选择了实际上获胜的人。然后科学家们对孩子们也做了类似的实验。超过600名儿童玩一种游戏，游戏中含有一个计算机模拟的乘船旅游。科学家问这些儿童，他们会选择谁作为他们的船长。大多数孩子们选择的船长也是实际上在选举中获胜的那位船长。

该项研究的作者们说，他们不知道孩子和成年人是利用了哪些特别的面部线索来帮助他们下决定。投票选举是民主政治中最重要的一项公民义务之一。但是对于许多投票者来说，似乎选举就是“面相”。

Vocabulary:

sophisticated：老练的

politician：政治家；政客

runner-up：第二名

candidate：候选人

competent：胜任的

participant：参与者

computer-simulated： 计算机模拟的

captain：（动词）担任队长

specific：特定

facial：面部的

cue：提示；暗示