Neuroscience study shows how praise, criticism, and facial attractiveness interact to influence likability

People often form impressions of others by quickly evaluating both how they look and what they say. A new study published in Biological Psychology offers evidence that verbal behavior and facial appearance interact in shaping these impressions, with this interplay also reflected in brain activity. The research found that while attractive people tend to be rated as more likable than average-looking individuals, this advantage shrinks when they are associated with critical remarks. The findings suggest that verbal negativity can blunt the effect of physical attractiveness on social evaluations.

Previous research has shown that people often associate physical attractiveness with positive traits, a bias sometimes referred to as the “what is beautiful is good” stereotype. At the same time, what someone says—especially if it is framed as praise or criticism—also influences how they are perceived by others. These two types of information, visual and verbal, do not operate in isolation during social interactions. Yet most studies examine either facial appearance or verbal content in isolation, leaving open questions about how these signals combine to affect person judgments.

The researchers behind this study aimed to fill that gap. They wanted to understand how verbal behaviors like praise and criticism interact with facial attractiveness in shaping social impressions, and whether this interaction is reflected in brain activity. They also explored whether this effect varied by the sex of the observer and the person being evaluated. By combining behavioral measures with brainwave recordings, the researchers sought to capture both conscious evaluations and underlying neural responses.

“We were inspired by the way people often rely on both appearance and words when forming first impressions,” said study author Shan Gao, a professor and head of the Language Science Lab at the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China.

“While the ‘beauty premium’ has been widely investigated, less is known about how verbal behavior (e.g., praise or criticism) interacts with facial attractiveness and how these interactions are represented in the brain. This gap motivated us to combine behavioral measures and event-related potentials (ERPs) to address the joint impact of verbal and nonverbal cues in social judgment.”

Free daily newsletter

Sixty-four participants, equally divided between men and women, took part in the experiment. All were young adults without any known neurological or psychiatric disorders. Each participant was randomly assigned to view either male or female faces, which were categorized as either attractive or average-looking based on prior ratings. The faces were presented alongside verbal descriptions that were either praising, critical, or neutral in tone. Importantly, participants were told to imagine that the individuals depicted in the photographs were the ones making the verbal statements.

Each trial followed a structured format. A face was shown alone, followed by the same face with a cue indicating speech was about to begin. Participants then saw two short sentences of the same emotional tone, each ending in a critical word that carried the emotional weight of the statement. Afterward, participants rated how likable they found the individual.

The researchers measured behavioral responses using these likability ratings. Simultaneously, they recorded electrical brain activity using electroencephalography, focusing on two specific brain signals: the early posterior negativity and the late positive complex. These brain responses are thought to reflect different stages of emotional processing, with the early component capturing quick, automatic reactions and the later component reflecting more detailed evaluation.

The data showed that participants rated attractive faces as more likable than average-looking ones overall, supporting the idea that physical appearance biases social judgments. Faces paired with praise were rated as more likable than those paired with neutral or critical comments. Criticism significantly reduced likability ratings, even for attractive individuals.

Notably, the benefit of attractiveness was not consistent across all verbal contexts. When attractive faces were paired with criticism, the usual advantage of attractiveness was diminished. In contrast, praise did not significantly boost the likability of attractive individuals compared to when they were described neutrally. This suggests that negative verbal behavior may carry more weight than positive behavior when it comes to forming impressions, especially when combined with visual attractiveness.

“One surprising result was that praise did not amplify the attractiveness advantage,” Gao told PsyPost. “We initially expected a ‘double bonus’ when an attractive person also offered praise, but the findings showed that negative information (criticism) has a much stronger impact than positive information. This points to the powerful role of negativity in shaping first impressions.”

Brainwave data supported these behavioral findings. The early posterior negativity was stronger in response to criticism, suggesting that participants quickly registered negative comments as emotionally significant. The late positive complex, associated with deeper evaluation, also showed a clear pattern. Criticism elicited the largest responses, followed by praise and then neutral descriptions.

“The brain responds more strongly to criticism than praise, highlighting the greater weight of negative information in social evaluation,” Gao said.

But when it came to attractive versus average-looking individuals, the brain responses showed a more specific pattern: praise led to increased brain activity only when it came from attractive individuals. This brain response was also positively associated with likability ratings, but only for praising attractive people.

The researchers also found differences based on the sex of participants and the faces they viewed. For instance, when viewing attractive individuals of the same sex who were offering praise, both men and women showed larger late positive complex responses. This may suggest that people are especially attuned to traits in same-sex individuals that signal social competition, particularly in contexts where praise is given.

In contrast, the presence of verbal criticism from attractive same-sex individuals seemed to provoke larger brain responses in women, indicating that they may be more sensitive to both positive and negative social cues when evaluating others of the same sex.

Another notable finding was that neutral comments from attractive men triggered larger brain responses in male participants compared to female participants. This may reflect heightened social awareness or vigilance in male-to-male interactions, possibly due to competitive or affiliative social dynamics. By contrast, women appeared to show a more varied pattern, responding strongly to both praise and criticism from other women.

Interestingly, while prior studies have reported that facial attractiveness can influence early-stage brain responses, this study did not find strong evidence for such an effect. The early posterior negativity did not differ based on whether the face was attractive or average-looking. The researchers suggest that early perceptual processing may not be influenced by attractiveness in situations where faces are already familiar or when the emotional content is carried by accompanying verbal cues.

“In short, looks matter, but what you say matters just as much—especially when it is negative,” Gao told PsyPost.

As with all research, there are caveats to consider. The study relied on a relatively small sample of young, heterosexual Chinese participants, which may limit how broadly the findings can be applied. Cultural differences in how attractiveness and verbal behavior are perceived could influence the results in other populations.

“We only used static, neutral-expression faces and short sentences, which may not capture the richness of real-life interactions,” Gao noted. “The study focused only on praise and criticism. Other forms of verbal and nonverbal cues (e.g., tone of voice, body language) may interact in different ways.”

Another avenue for future work could involve exploring how these impressions change over time or after repeated exposure. The current study captured first impressions, but real relationships often involve evolving judgments as new information becomes available. Understanding how early biases either persist or fade could have implications for fields ranging from hiring to education to social media design.

“Our long-term aim is to better understand how multiple social signals are integrated in the brain to form impressions and guide behavior,” Gao said. “Future research could examine more diverse cues (e.g., voice tone, gaze, gestures) and explore cross-cultural differences to provide a more complete picture of how people evaluate others in everyday life.”

“This study highlights that first impressions are not just about appearance. Words can strongly reinforce or undermine initial judgments, and the brain is particularly sensitive to negative verbal behavior. Recognizing this can help us become more aware of our biases and perhaps make more balanced evaluations of others in social and professional contexts.”

The study, “Words or appearance? The impact of verbal behaviour and facial attraction on first impression,” was authored by Shan Gao, Qian Li, Chen He, Xiaojie Yan, and Yihao Yin.