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Face evaluations are a crucial component of social behavior, influencing a large range of social decisions from mating to political vote. Face evaluations are also susceptible to substantial individual differences. In this thesis, I propose that individual differences in face evaluations constitute a promising tool to investigate social behavior through the analysis of variations in the weight granted to different social signals, and notably cooperation- and power-related cues. I apply this approach in two ways. First, I examine the hypothesis that social motivation can be construed as an adaptation to highly cooperative environments. Across six studies, I confirm a central prediction of this theory, by revealing that highly socially motivated individuals grant a higher importance to cooperation-related signals. Second, I investigate the cognitive mechanisms underlying political choices by examining their responses to different environmental signals. In a study on leader preferences in children and in adults, I show that early exposure to environmental harshness is associated with a preference for stronger leaders. Building on these results, I then develop an original theory on political choices stating that leader preferences are biased towards the candidates perceived as the most competent for succeeding in the current context, independently of their leadership abilities. To summarize, my thesis puts forward a new framework to investigate social decisions based on individual variations in face evaluations and sheds light on the cognitive processes underlying social behavior as well as their evolutionary bases. ; Les évaluations faciales sont un élément central des comportements sociaux, influençant un large spectre de décisions, allant du choix du romantique au choix politique, mais sont également le sujet de grandes variations individuelles. Dans cette thèse, je propose que l'analyse des différences individuelles dans l'utilisation de différents signaux sociaux, notamment ceux de coopération et de pouvoir, ...

Face evaluations are a crucial component of social behavior, influencing a large range of social decisions from mating to political vote. Face evaluations are also susceptible to substantial individual differences. In this thesis, I propose that individual differences in face evaluations constitute a promising tool to investigate social behavior through the analysis of variations in the weight granted to different social signals, and notably cooperation- and power-related cues. I apply this approach in two ways. First, I examine the hypothesis that social motivation can be construed as an adaptation to highly cooperative environments. Across six studies, I confirm a central prediction of this theory, by revealing that highly socially motivated individuals grant a higher importance to cooperation-related signals. Second, I investigate the cognitive mechanisms underlying political choices by examining their responses to different environmental signals. In a study on leader preferences in children and in adults, I show that early exposure to environmental harshness is associated with a preference for stronger leaders. Building on these results, I then develop an original theory on political choices stating that leader preferences are biased towards the candidates perceived as the most competent for succeeding in the current context, independently of their leadership abilities. To summarize, my thesis puts forward a new framework to investigate social decisions based on individual variations in face evaluations and sheds light on the cognitive processes underlying social behavior as well as their evolutionary bases. ; Les évaluations faciales sont un élément central des comportements sociaux, influençant un large spectre de décisions, allant du choix du romantique au choix politique, mais sont également le sujet de grandes variations individuelles. Dans cette thèse, je propose que l'analyse des différences individuelles dans l'utilisation de différents signaux sociaux, notamment ceux de coopération et de pouvoir, ...

Face evaluations are a crucial component of social behavior, influencing a large range of social decisions from mating to political vote. Face evaluations are also susceptible to substantial individual differences. In this thesis, I propose that individual differences in face evaluations constitute a promising tool to investigate social behavior through the analysis of variations in the weight granted to different social signals, and notably cooperation- and power-related cues. I apply this approach in two ways. First, I examine the hypothesis that social motivation can be construed as an adaptation to highly cooperative environments. Across six studies, I confirm a central prediction of this theory, by revealing that highly socially motivated individuals grant a higher importance to cooperation-related signals. Second, I investigate the cognitive mechanisms underlying political choices by examining their responses to different environmental signals. In a study on leader preferences in children and in adults, I show that early exposure to environmental harshness is associated with a preference for stronger leaders. Building on these results, I then develop an original theory on political choices stating that leader preferences are biased towards the candidates perceived as the most competent for succeeding in the current context, independently of their leadership abilities. To summarize, my thesis puts forward a new framework to investigate social decisions based on individual variations in face evaluations and sheds light on the cognitive processes underlying social behavior as well as their evolutionary bases. ; Les évaluations faciales sont un élément central des comportements sociaux, influençant un large spectre de décisions, allant du choix du romantique au choix politique, mais sont également le sujet de grandes variations individuelles. Dans cette thèse, je propose que l'analyse des différences individuelles dans l'utilisation de différents signaux sociaux, notamment ceux de coopération et de pouvoir, ...

Face evaluations are a crucial component of social behavior, influencing a large range of social decisions from mating to political vote. Face evaluations are also susceptible to substantial individual differences. In this thesis, I propose that individual differences in face evaluations constitute a promising tool to investigate social behavior through the analysis of variations in the weight granted to different social signals, and notably cooperation- and power-related cues. I apply this approach in two ways. First, I examine the hypothesis that social motivation can be construed as an adaptation to highly cooperative environments. Across six studies, I confirm a central prediction of this theory, by revealing that highly socially motivated individuals grant a higher importance to cooperation-related signals. Second, I investigate the cognitive mechanisms underlying political choices by examining their responses to different environmental signals. In a study on leader preferences in children and in adults, I show that early exposure to environmental harshness is associated with a preference for stronger leaders. Building on these results, I then develop an original theory on political choices stating that leader preferences are biased towards the candidates perceived as the most competent for succeeding in the current context, independently of their leadership abilities. To summarize, my thesis puts forward a new framework to investigate social decisions based on individual variations in face evaluations and sheds light on the cognitive processes underlying social behavior as well as their evolutionary bases. ; Les évaluations faciales sont un élément central des comportements sociaux, influençant un large spectre de décisions, allant du choix du romantique au choix politique, mais sont également le sujet de grandes variations individuelles. Dans cette thèse, je propose que l'analyse des différences individuelles dans l'utilisation de différents signaux sociaux, notamment ceux de coopération et de pouvoir, ...

Understanding the dynamics of citizens' opinions, preferences, perceptions, and attitudes is pivotal in political science and essential for informed policymaking. Although highly sophisticated tools have been developed for analyzing these dynamics through surveys, outside the field of polarization, these analyses often focus on average responses, thereby missing important information embedded in other parameters of data distribution. Our study aims to fill this gap by illustrating how analyzing the evolution of both the mean and the distribution shape of responses can offer complementary insights into opinion dynamics. Specifically, we explore this through the French public's perception of defense issues, both before and after the onset of the war in Ukraine. Our findings underscore how routinely combining classical approaches with the use of existing tools for measuring distribution shapes can provide valuable perspectives for researchers and policymakers alike, by highlighting the nuanced shifts in public opinion that traditional methods might overlook.

Social trust is linked to a host of positive societal outcomes, including improved economic performance, lower crime rates and more inclusive institutions. Yet, the origins of trust remain elusive, partly because social trust is difficult to document in time. Building on recent advances in social cognition, we design an algorithm to automatically generate trustworthiness evaluations for the facial action units (smile, eye brows, etc.) of European portraits in large historical databases. Our results show that trustworthiness in portraits increased over the period 1500–2000 paralleling the decline of interpersonal violence and the rise of democratic values observed in Western Europe. Further analyses suggest that this rise of trustworthiness displays is associated with increased living standards.

Social trust is at the center of democratic societies, but it varies considerably between individuals and cultures. Socioeconomic status has been identified as an important predictor of such variability. Although this association has mostly been reported for measures of socioeconomic status taken in adulthood, recent studies have found unique effects of harsh conditions experienced during childhood on social trust assessed decades later. Here, we report a series of three studies that provide further support for the importance of early childhood conditions in social trust. The first study revealed that higher childhood socioeconomic status was associated with greater social trust in a diverse sample of French participants (N = 915), even after adjusting for current socioeconomic status. The second study confirmed this result using data from the European Values Survey (N = 64,780, 45 countries). In both samples, our analyses revealed that adding childhood socioeconomic status significantly improved the fit of the model thereby providing suggestive evidence of the central role of this variable for explaining variations in social trust. Finally, the last study replicated this association using a behavioral measure of social trust (N = 60 in original study,N = 75 in replication study).

International audience ; Social trust is at the center of democratic societies but it varies considerably between individuals and societies, which deeply affects a range of prosocial behaviours. Socioeconomic status has been identified as an important predictor of such variability. Although this association has mostly been reported for measures of socioeconomic status taken in adulthood, recent studies have found unique effects of harsh conditions experienced during childhood on social trust assessed decades later. Here, we report a series of three studies that provide further support for the long-lasting association between early childhood conditions and social trust. The first study revealed that higher childhood socioeconomic status was associated with greater social trust in a diverse sample of French participants (N=915), even after adjusting for current socioeconomic status. The second study replicated this result using data from the European Values Study, an independent large-scale survey of 46 European countries (N=66,281). Finally, the last study found a similar association between socioeconomic status and willingness to invest in a trust game (N=60 in original study, N=75 in replication study).

International audience ; Social trust is at the center of democratic societies but it varies considerably between individuals and societies, which deeply affects a range of prosocial behaviours. Socioeconomic status has been identified as an important predictor of such variability. Although this association has mostly been reported for measures of socioeconomic status taken in adulthood, recent studies have found unique effects of harsh conditions experienced during childhood on social trust assessed decades later. Here, we report a series of three studies that provide further support for the long-lasting association between early childhood conditions and social trust. The first study revealed that higher childhood socioeconomic status was associated with greater social trust in a diverse sample of French participants (N=915), even after adjusting for current socioeconomic status. The second study replicated this result using data from the European Values Study, an independent large-scale survey of 46 European countries (N=66,281). Finally, the last study found a similar association between socioeconomic status and willingness to invest in a trust game (N=60 in original study, N=75 in replication study).

International audience ; Social trust is at the center of democratic societies but it varies considerably between individuals and societies, which deeply affects a range of prosocial behaviours. Socioeconomic status has been identified as an important predictor of such variability. Although this association has mostly been reported for measures of socioeconomic status taken in adulthood, recent studies have found unique effects of harsh conditions experienced during childhood on social trust assessed decades later. Here, we report a series of three studies that provide further support for the long-lasting association between early childhood conditions and social trust. The first study revealed that higher childhood socioeconomic status was associated with greater social trust in a diverse sample of French participants (N=915), even after adjusting for current socioeconomic status. The second study replicated this result using data from the European Values Study, an independent large-scale survey of 46 European countries (N=66,281). Finally, the last study found a similar association between socioeconomic status and willingness to invest in a trust game (N=60 in original study, N=75 in replication study).

International audience ; Social trust is at the center of democratic societies but it varies considerably between individuals and societies, which deeply affects a range of prosocial behaviours. Socioeconomic status has been identified as an important predictor of such variability. Although this association has mostly been reported for measures of socioeconomic status taken in adulthood, recent studies have found unique effects of harsh conditions experienced during childhood on social trust assessed decades later. Here, we report a series of three studies that provide further support for the long-lasting association between early childhood conditions and social trust. The first study revealed that higher childhood socioeconomic status was associated with greater social trust in a diverse sample of French participants (N=915), even after adjusting for current socioeconomic status. The second study replicated this result using data from the European Values Study, an independent large-scale survey of 46 European countries (N=66,281). Finally, the last study found a similar association between socioeconomic status and willingness to invest in a trust game (N=60 in original study, N=75 in replication study).

Social trust is at the center of democratic societies but it varies considerably between individuals and societies, which deeply affects a range of prosocial behaviours. Socioeconomic status has been identified as an important predictor of such variability. Although this association has mostly been reported for measures of socioeconomic status taken in adulthood, recent studies have found unique effects of harsh conditions experienced during childhood on social trust assessed decades later. Here, we report a series of three studies that provide further support for the long-lasting association between early childhood conditions and social trust. The first study revealed that higher childhood socioeconomic status was associated with greater social trust in a diverse sample of French participants (N=915), even after adjusting for current socioeconomic status. The second study replicated this result using data from the European Values Study, an independent large-scale survey of 46 European countries (N=66,281). Finally, the last study found a similar association between socioeconomic status and willingness to invest in a trust game (N=60 in original study, N=75 in replication study).

Social trust is at the center of democratic societies but it varies considerably between individuals and societies, which deeply affects a range of prosocial behaviours. Socioeconomic status has been identified as an important predictor of such variability. Although this association has mostly been reported for measures of socioeconomic status taken in adulthood, recent studies have found unique effects of harsh conditions experienced during childhood on social trust assessed decades later. Here, we report a series of three studies that provide further support for the long-lasting association between early childhood conditions and social trust. The first study revealed that higher childhood socioeconomic status was associated with greater social trust in a diverse sample of French participants (N=915), even after adjusting for current socioeconomic status. The second study replicated this result using data from the European Values Study, an independent large-scale survey of 46 European countries (N=66,281). Finally, the last study found a similar association between socioeconomic status and willingness to invest in a trust game (N=60 in original study, N=75 in replication study).

Photojournalistic images shape our understanding of sociopolitical events. How humans are depicted in images may have far-reaching consequences for our attitudes towards them. Social psychology has shown how the visualization of an 'identifiable victim effect' can elicit empathic responses. However, images of identifiable victims in the media are the exception rather than the norm. In the context of the Syrian refugee crisis, the majority of images in Western media depicted refugees as large unidentifiable groups. While the effects of the visual depiction of single individuals are well-known, the ways in which the visual framing of large groups operates, and its social and political consequences, remain unknown. We here focus on the visual depiction of refugees to understand how exposure to the dominant visual framing used in the media, depicting them in large groups of faceless individuals, affects their dehumanization and sets off political consequences. To that end we brought together insights from social psychology, social sciences and the humanities to test a range of hypotheses using methods from social and political psychology in 10 studies with the participation of 3951 European citizens. Seeing images of large groups resulted in greater implicit dehumanization compared with images depicting refugees in small groups. Images of large groups are also explicitly rated as more dehumanizing, and when coupled with meta-data such as newspaper headlines, images continue to play a significant and independent role on how (de)humanizing we perceive such news coverage to be. Moreover, after viewing images of large groups, participants showed increased preference for more dominant and less trustworthy-looking political leaders and supported fewer pro-refugee policies and more anti-refugee policies. In terms of a mechanistic understanding of these effects, the extent to which participants felt pity for refugees depicted in large groups as opposed to small groups mediated the effect of visual framing on the choice of a more authoritarian-looking leader. What we see in the media and how it is shown not only has consequences for the ways in which we relate to other human beings and our behaviour towards them but, ultimately, for the functioning of our political systems.