effect of presentation modality on judgments of honesty and attractiveness, The

The present study tested the effect of stimuli presentation modality on judgments of honesty and attractiveness, and whether the judge's gender and target's nationality and gender affect such judgments. Jordanian judges watched a videotape of Jordanian and US targets and rated their honesty and attractiveness. Results showed a significant effect for presentation modality on judgments of honesty and attractiveness. Audiovisual presentation produced higher ratings of honesty an attractiveness judgments than did audio and video presentations. Results showed also a main effect for target nationality and gender on judgments of honesty; and a main effect for target nationality only on judgments of attractiveness. Jordanian students judged female targets to be more honest than male targets, and judged U.S. targets to be more honest and attractive than Jordanian targets.

In real life situations, we are constantly making judgments in the course of social interaction. In making these judgments, we search for cues to help us, such as non-verbal behaviors (Ekman, Friesen, O'Sullivan & Scherer, 1980; Krauss, 1981; O'Sullivan, Ekman, Friesen & Scherer, 1985), facial expressions (Ekman, Friesen & Ellsworth, 1972; Ekman, 1972; Izard, 1972; Ekman, 1993) and facial and physiognomy features (Locker & Graber,1980; Caron, Caron 8c Myers,1982; Goldstein, 1983; Cunningham and Odour, 1986; Atoum, 1997; Atoum, 1998).

Judgments of honesty are also made of others. Research findings reveal the complexity of such judgments and their accuracy. Some people behave honestly in some situations and not others, and some are consistently honest or dishonest (Bond, Omar, Mahmoud, and Bonser, 1990). Miner ( 1992) has indicated the great variety in social and cultural norms by which we define dishonest behavior or a dishonest individual.

Individual differences are shown in that people who look honest may be perceived to be telling the truth when they make both honest and deceptive statements, whereas people who look dishonest are perceived to be lying when making both truthful and untruthful statements (Bond, Omar (Atoum), Mahmoud & Bonser, 1990; and Bond, Berry & Omar, 1994).

Stiff (1990) examined the relative importance of verbal, nonverbal, and social normative information in judgments of honesty. Findings revealed strong support for the importance of nonverbal cues for such judgments compared to verbal and social cues.

Studies found no significant differences in perceiving honesty between American students and others on the one hand, and no significant differences between males and females on the other hand (O'Sullivan, Ekman, Friesen, & Scherer, 1988; Hurd & Noller, 1988).

Attractiveness judgments are also made about others. Research findings reveal the variation in individuals' perceptions of this complex issue.

Attractive people, who possess qualities that appeal to others, are normally perceived to be better, in general, than are non-attractive ones. Early studies considered physical attractiveness as an important resource, and found that more attractive persons were perceived to be warmer, stronger, and more poised (Diener, Wolsic, & Sujita, 1995). Attractive people are perceived to be more sociable, mentally healthy, intelligent and socially skilled than unattractive people (Brigham, 1980). Moreover, attractive people have been found to be less dishonest and less often guilty of crimes of which they have been accused (Eran, 1974), more likely to be smart and likeable as children (Stephan & Langlois, 1984), and more likely to be chosen in interactive social play (Smith 1984).

Atoum ( 1997) found a significant difference between males and females in their perception of honesty and attractiveness, and found a negative relationship between judgments of attractiveness and thickness of upper lips for females, thickness of lower lip, height of smile and midface length for males.

Schneider (1983) examined gender as a moderator of attractiveness judgments. Results indicated that socially-competent males were deemed more attractive. Males' ratings of female attractiveness were relatively independent of the rating condition.

Riggio, Tucker and Throckmorton ( 1987) suggested that the accuracy of judges' believability ratings were not affected by gender. Facial features were considered important in judgment of attractiveness. Those who are perceived as attractive are likely to receive more attention than others, and are likely to posses attractive facial features.

Previous research used different stimuli materials in collecting judgments of honesty and attractiveness. The majority of these studies used video tapes (video and audio modality) of subjects posing in front of a video camera (Hard & Noller, 1988; Bond, et al. 1990; Bond, et al. 1994; Schiavetti, 1994), or photographs of targets (Cuniinngham, 1986; Buck, 1984; Atoum, 1997; Atoum, 1998), or questionnaires (DePaulo, Kirkendol, Tang & O'Brien,1988; Atoum, 1994; Bond, Berry & Omar, 1994), or interviews with targets (O'Sullivan, Ekman & Friesen, 1988).