A recent Spanish study, published November 2024, confirmed once again that people whose portraits are perceived as attractive are also seen as more intelligent and trustworthy.
The study used 462 pairs of portraits, each showing a person before and after a beauty filter was applied. The photos were rated by 2,748 participants, aged 18 to 88, with an equal number of males and females from the UK, US, and Canada. The participants were shown random subsets of the portraits, but never both versions of the same photo.
The results were clear: portraits with the beauty filter consistently received higher ratings for traits like intelligence, trustworthiness, and sociability.
For the male headshot above, the beauty filter changed the colour of the eyes. All the other changes (adding contrast, darkening the jawline, and a subtle narrowing of the eyes) could have been done by a good headshot photographer.
The female beauty photo also added contrast, smoothed skin tones, added makeup effects to the eyes and eyebrows, enlarged the eyes and lips, and narrowed the face. All of this could’ve be done by a makeup stylist and a better photographer.
The portrait faces used in the study ranged from 19 to over 69 years old. Younger faces were generally rated as more attractive than older faces but, within any age range, the “beautified” faces rated higher than the original version. The age of the study participants didn’t affect how they rated the photos.
Another study published in 2022, which examined this same “attractiveness halo effect” across 45 countries in 11 world regions, found similar results. Regardless of ethnicity or region, people rated attractive faces as more confident, emotionally stable, intelligent, responsible, sociable, and trustworthy. This suggests that our response to physical attractiveness is a deeply ingrained human trait.
Business Headshot Retouching
So, when having a business headshot made, it’s worth leveraging this natural bias to your advantage. You want your portrait to convey the right message, that you’re trustworthy, intelligent, confident, and sociable. This is a powerful tool for marketing yourself to potential clients and employers.
Ideally your portrait photographer delivers a great photo but that’s not always guaranteed. In such cases, photo retouching can help achieve the desired result. Personalized retouching can enhance your photo to make you look your best while keeping the image realistic and professional.
