Facial aesthetic minimally invasive procedure: More than just vanity, a social-psychological approach.

BACKGROUND: Due to the great importance of the face in social interaction, minimally invasive treatments can-besides their ability to rejuvenate and enhance beauty-also change the way facial impressions of a person are perceived. In recent literature, three main character traits (attractiveness, trustworthiness, and competence) and subdomains essential for facial perception were described. OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether minimally invasive procedures truly influence different character traits when evaluated by independent, objective observers. METHODS: Photographs of n = 34 female faces before and after treatment with injectable fillers and botulinum toxin were rated by 393 individuals without aesthetic background with regards to different character traits on a 7-point Likert scale. Tests for dimensionality were performed, and composite scores of the impressions underlying each of the three dimensions were created and compared using within-subjects t tests. RESULTS: Treatments statistically significantly improved the overarching character trait domains attractiveness, trustworthiness, and competence in posttreatment photographs compared with pretreatment. Posttreatment ratings of the respective subdomains also showed a statistically significant difference compared with pretreatment photographs, with the exception of the subdomain dominance which failed to reach statistical significance. CONCLUSION: Impressions of facial attractiveness, trustworthiness, and competence can be improved by injectables while the naturalness of the face is left intact. An implication is that the improvement of traits highly relevant to social interaction will accommodate the patient's desires for beautification and rejuvenation.

Construct and Predictive Validity of an Assessment Game to Measure Honesty-Humility.

Research on commercial computer games has demonstrated that in-game behavior is related to the players' personality profiles. However, this potential has not yet been fully utilized for personality assessments. Hence, we developed an applied (i.e., serious) assessment game to assess the Honesty-Humility personality trait. In two studies, we demonstrate that this game adequately assesses Honesty-Humility. In Study 1 (N = 116), we demonstrate convergent validity of the assessment game with self-reported Honesty-Humility and divergent validity with the other HEXACO traits and cognitive ability. In Study 2 (N = 287), we replicate the findings from Study 1, and also demonstrate that the assessment game shows incremental validity-beyond self-reported personality-in the prediction of cheating for financial gain, but not of counterproductive work and unethical behaviors. The findings demonstrate that assessment games are promising tools for personality measurement in applied contexts.