Identification of acutely sick people and facial cues of sickness

• Detection and avoidance of sick individuals have been proposed as essential components in a behavioral immune defense, limiting the risk for contamination. However, almost no knowledge exists on whether humans are able to detect sickness in individuals and, if so, by what cues. Here we demonstrate that untrained people (n=60) can identify sick individuals above chance level by looking at facial photos taken two hours after injection with a sickness-inducing bacterial stimulus (2.0ng/kg lipopolysaccharide, LPS) or placebo. Sensitivity and specificity for identifying sick people was 64% and 59%, respectively. Acutely sick people were rated by another group of observers (n=62) as having paler lips and skin, a more swollen face, more droopy corners of the mouth, more hanging eyelids, redder eyes, and less glossy and patchy skin, as well as appearing more tired. Our findings suggest that facial cues associated with the skin, mouth, and eyes can aid in detection of acutely sick, and potentially contagious, people.

Publikations- och innehållstyp

vet (ämneskategori)

ovr (ämneskategori)