The benefit of context for facial composite construction.

Purpose - The aim of this study was to investigate whether the presence of a whole-face context during facial composite production facilitates construction of facial composite images. Design/Methodology - In Experiment 1, constructors viewed a celebrity face and then developed a facial composite using PRO-fit in one of two conditions: either the full-face was visible while facial features were selected, or only the feature currently being selected was visible. The composites were named by different participants. We then replicated the study using a more forensically-valid procedure: In Experiment 2 non-football fans viewed an image of a premiership footballer and 24 hours later constructed a composite of the face with a trained software operator. The resulting composites were named by football fans. Findings - In both studies we found that presence of the facial context promoted more identifiable facial composite images. Research limitations/implications – Though this study uses current software in an unconventional way, this was necessary to avoid error arising from between-system differences. Practical implications - Results confirm that composite software should have the whole-face context visible to witnesses throughout construction. Though some software systems do this, there remain others that present features in isolation and these findings show that these systems are unlikely to be optimal. Originality/value - This is the first study to demonstrate the importance of a full-face context for the construction of facial composite images. Results are valuable to police forces and developers of composite software.

Giving the benefit of the doubt: the role of vulnerability in the perception of Dark Triad behaviours.

The 'Dark Triad' of socially aversive personality traits (Machiavellianism, Narcissism, and Psychopathy) is typically associated with grandiosity, callousness, and exploitation. Despite this, people with such traits can be very successful in life, especially in the occupational context. This study investigated the characteristics of individuals who enable and abet people high on Dark Triad traits (e.g. through tolerating unpleasant behaviours, not challenging unethical conduct, etc.). High Dark Triad individuals may be able to identify individuals who are susceptible to social manipulation and who are therefore less likely to challenge their behaviours. This study used a 20-item Vulnerability Scale to capture the characteristics of individuals who fall victim to people high on the Dark Triad traits. Cronbach's alpha for the Vulnerability Scale was .80. Pearson's correlation between total vulnerability scores and each of the Big Five personality traits revealed that predictors of vulnerability to social manipulation include low extraversion, low conscientiousness, high neuroticism, and high agreeableness. The vignette method was used to elicit perceptions of Dark Triad behaviours from those who are found to demonstrate signs of social vulnerability. Differences in response styles on Likert-type statements and open-ended questions were found between the high and low vulnerability groups.