The role of facial appearance on CEO selection after firm misconduct.

[Correction Notice: An Erratum for this article was reported in Vol 102(4) of Journal of Applied Psychology (see record 2017-10684-001). The wrong figure files were used. All versions of this article have been corrected.] We investigate a particular aspect of CEO successor trustworthiness that may be critically important after a firm has engaged in financial misconduct. Specifically, drawing on prior research that suggests that facial appearance is one critical way in which trustworthiness is signaled, we argue that leaders who convey integrity, a component of trustworthiness, will be more likely to be selected as successors after financial restatement. We predict that such appointments garner more positive reactions by external observers such as investment analysts and the media because these CEOs are perceived as having greater integrity. In an archival study of firms that have announced financial restatements, we find support for our predictions. These findings have implications for research on CEO succession, leadership selection, facial appearance, and firm misconduct. (PsycINFO Database Record

Explaining the link between objective and perceived differences in groups: The role of the belonging and distinctiveness motives.

Group diversity research often focuses on objective diversity, or the actual compositional attributes of the group (e.g., differences in sex or functional background), and its impact on group processes and performance. More recently, diversity researchers have called for consideration of group members' perceptions of diversity, or their subjective understanding of differences within their group, because these perceptions have important effects on group outcomes. In fact, research has indicated only a modest correlation between objective and perceived diversity. Although the subjective nature of group diversity has important implications for group outcomes, we are still unclear about why and when perceived diversity diverges from objective diversity. In this article, I examine the role of identity motives, or motives that guide self-definition, in shaping member's perceptions of themselves and their group's composition. I argue that group members want to balance their needs for belonging and distinctiveness, but high levels of objective differences make them feel too distinct whereas low levels of objective differences makes them feel too deindividuated. Individual differences in the need to belong and be distinct further influence the degree to which these motives are satisfied. In turn, when these motives are unsatisfied, they will affect members' perceptions of differences. The presented theory helps to explain the discrepancy between objective differences and members' perceptions of differences, and ultimately helps integrate opposing findings in the diversity literature.

Men's facial width-to-height ratio predicts aggression: a meta-analysis.

Recent research has identified men's facial width-to-height ratio (fWHR) as a reliable predictor of aggressive tendencies and behavior. Other research, however, has failed to replicate the fWHR-aggression relationship and has questioned whether previous findings are robust. In the current paper, we synthesize existing work by conducting a meta-analysis to estimate whether and how fWHR predicts aggression. Our results indicate a small, but significant, positive relationship between men's fWHR and aggression.

Self-fulfilling prophecies as a link between men's facial width-to-height ratio and behavior.

The facial width-to-height ratio (fWHR) has been identified as a reliable predictor of men's behavior, with researchers focusing on evolutionary selection pressures as the underlying mechanism explaining these relationships. In this paper, we complement this approach and examine the extent to which social processes also determine the extent to which men's fWHR serves as a behavioral cue. Specifically, we propose that observers' treatment of target men based on the targets' fWHR subsequently affects behavior, leading the targets to behave in ways that are consistent with the observers' expectations (i.e., a self-fulfilling prophecy). Results from four studies demonstrate that individuals behave more selfishly when interacting with men with greater fWHRs, and this selfish behavior, in turn, elicits selfish behavior in others.

A face only an investor could love: CEOs' facial structure predicts their firms' financial performance.

Researchers have theorized that innate personal traits are related to leadership success. Although links between psychological characteristics and leadership success have been well established, research has yet to identify any objective physical traits of leaders that predict organizational performance. In the research reported here, we identified leaders' facial structure as a specific physical trait that correlates with organizational performance. Specifically, we found that firms whose male CEOs have wider faces (relative to facial height) achieve superior financial performance. Decision-making dynamics within a firm's leadership team moderate this effect, such that the relationship between a given CEO's facial measurements and his firm's financial performance is stronger in firms with cognitively simple leadership teams.

From approach to inhibition: the influence of power on responses to poor performers.

This article examines how relative differences in power affect responses to poor performers in organizations. We predicted that higher power individuals would engage in approach-related behaviors, whereas lower power individuals would be inhibited when responding to poor performers. Results from a scenario study and a field study generally supported this prediction, indicating that power was positively related to training or confronting a poor performer and negatively related to compensating for or rejecting a poor performer. A second scenario study investigated the effect of the interaction of power and emotion on individual responses to poor performers. Results showed that the type of emotion expressed moderated the effect of power on inhibition-related responses. We discuss implications for managing poor performers with relative power differences.