Content dimensions of person perception: Morality takes the lead (over sociability and competence)

Simone Mattavelli and Marco Brambilla

Chapter 7 in Research Handbook on Social Judgment, 2026, pp 109-124 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: In forming an impression about others, people are confronted with a patchwork of information. Understanding how such information is received and integrated is key to uncovering the dynamic of person perception. This chapter reviews research showing that moral traits are more influential than non-moral traits (i.e., sociability and competence) in shaping impressions of others. Delving into the link between morality and threat, we focus on impressions made from faces. We review work showing that moral impressions from facial cues are influenced by information from the surrounding context: individuals are perceived as less moral when embedded in threatening scenarios. We present studies showing that this face–context integration can reflect an adaptive need to discern friends from foes. Furthermore, we clarify that people actively make sense of the world by generating inferences about the relationship between the individuals and their context. We conclude by outlining a trajectory for future research.

Keywords: Impression Formation; Faces; Morality; Person Perception; Threat (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
ISBN: 9781035332533
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