Assessment of Individual Psychological Characteristics and Level of Trust Using a Photograph of a Stranger’s Face Before and After Direct Perceptual Interaction

Abstract

The article presents the results of a study of the influence of direct perceptual interaction on the assessment of the individual psychological characteristics of a stranger and the level of trust/distrust in him. The problem of the influence of direct perceptual interaction in conditions of interpersonal perception still remains relevant and requires thorough experimental study. The main assumption of the work is that ideas about a stranger, including a complex dialectical interaction of trust/distrust, will differ significantly before and after direct perceptual interaction. The assessment of individual psychological characteristics was carried out using the “Personal Differential” technique, trust/distrust using the “Perceptive Trust Assessment Test”. The results show that the experience of brief nonverbal face-to-face interaction reduces the number of significant differences in the ratings of naive observers with the ratings of experts. Regardless of the facial morphotype, after the experience of interaction, all sitters are perceived by observers with a bias towards socially desirable individual psychological characteristics, with the exception of the only characteristic (stubborn) in the assessments of the round morphotype. The experience of non-verbal face-to-face interaction has a significant impact on the formation of a more trusting attitude towards a stranger in an outside observer, in contrast to the level of trust formed from a photograph.