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| Do you find that the Renault Twingo has a smiling face? That the VW Beetle looks startled? The Trabant is sad? And a BMW looks angry? In a new study, scientists say that if we see a mellow, macho or other expression on the front end of a car, it is because we are hardwired to scan human faces for vital information. Humans, like other animals, have evolved the ability to size someone up in the briefest of glances, they say. Seeing a face for just a tenth of a second in enough to figure out if that person is hostile or helpful, a stranger or kin -- a prehistoric survival mechanism that can make the difference between life and death. To see if this reflex extends to automobiles, a team of researchers led by Karl Grammer of the University of Vienna asked 40 young adults -- half women, half men -- to rate the front ends of 38 recent-model cars, all of the same colour. The researchers first classified the "expressions" on the cars using a computerised system of standardized measures for human faces that indicate degrees of masculinity or femininity, and different emotions, based on the size and position of facial features. Then they asked participants to rate each car's "face" for 19 criteria: Is the "face" more like a child or an adult? More friendly or hostile? More male or female? Is it arrogant? Happy? Afraid? Aggressive? Respondents were also simply asked if the car's front end looked like a face and, if so, whether it was more human or animal. Finally, they picked the vehicles they liked. More than a third said that 90 percent of the cars reminded them of a face, and all of the participants indicated headlights for the "eyes" and a radiator grill for the "mouth." Their ranking of emotions matched the ones generated by computers in most cases, according to the experiment, reported this week in the journal Human Nature, published by Germany's Springer group. As for preferences, both men and women showed a clear liking for cars they described as mature, dominating, masculine, arrogant and angry -- characteristics the researchers bundled together under the heading "power". These cars had a low-slung bonnet and wide front, associated with with the square jaw and prominent chin of stereotyped masculinity. Topping the list of "power" cars were top-of-the-line BMWs and the Chrysler 300C, 340-horsepower alpha-male of an auto with a V-8 under the bonnet. At the submissive, friendly and childlike end of the spectrum were Nissan's New Micra, Volkswagen's New Beetle and the Kia Picanto. "The tendency to interpret car fronts as faces could be the result of an error management strategy which has evolved in order to not miss any information about faces," the authors argue. Error management theory looks at the consequences of making a mistake in judgement. In evolutionary terms, faces are the quickest indicators of potential danger. The next step could be to quantify how our perception of car "faces" affects our auto purchases and driving behaviour, offering potential benefits for marketeers but also for road safety, the researchers say. "Do we feel that driving a car that looks arrogant and dominant might be of benefit in the daily 'battles' on the road?" they ask. "Does one change lanes and give way sooner when an 'aggressive' car appears in the rearview mirror?" |
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Originally Posted by sridharps
(Post 991520)
M800, Alto - 'Gentle, unassuming' - 'Submissive faces' |
| here we go... NHC = egg (lots of friends and dealers call it bedo means egg) : true! Honda Civic = hot b$tch, i wanna ride her. : Whew! I will take it as you want to drive this car. Well, same here. ford endavor = FBI vehicle: Interesting one, this. There is something stealthlike, secretive & official about this car's looks honda crv = desert toy vehicle : Well, I imagine sexy curves here. vagon-r = tifin box : One with a typical mongoloid nose. maruti 800,alto = poor mens car. No offense, most idiot drivers i have seen on highways drive alto or 800 because they drive 50-60kmph in first lane. : yes, gentle, unassuming, submissive looks Honda Accord = W.O.W., Car, i can only dream about for now :( : There is arrogance in the front grill design. CARMY = rich mans car : Practical looks of the front grill. BMW 7 SERIES = HITMANS car : Can only think of the 'hit and run' cases! Scorpio, sumo, innova = call center vehicles with very aggressive drivers, always doing racing with other drivers on road. : : Scorpio looks good from the front, but a big let down from the rear. tata indica = cabby: and Shabby, at times. You see so many white and dirty Indicas on the road. tata indgo = poors executive car : true. The CS looks cure though. ambassador = mantri's car : Looks old and dated. sx4 = aggressive, definitely male : Here is a man who can flex his muscles ( but at a truck??!! the ad beats me!) i10 = nice little car : A bit squint eyed, though |
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Originally Posted by rajshenoy Suzuki swift... no doubt "The wolf" killer eyes |
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