This face database was created in the Karolinska Institute in Sweden (Lundqvist, Flykt, & Ohman 1998). In our studies, frontal headshots of 66 of the actors’ faces were rated on 14 trait dimensions: attractive, caring, aggressive, mean, intelligent, confident, emotionally stable, trustworthy, responsible, sociable, weird, unhappy, dominant, and threatening. The trait judgments were measured on 9-point scales, ranging from 1 (not at all [trait]) to 9 (extremely [trait]). The rating procedures are described in Oosterhof & Todorov (2008). The respective sample sizes (number of raters per trait judgment) and reliabilities (Cronbach’s alpha) can be found in Table S2 of Oosterhof & Todorov (2008).
The ratings were used by Oosterhof & Todorov (2008) to derive a dimensional model of social judgments from faces. They were also used by Oh, Dotsch, Porter, & Todorov (2020). Todorov & Oh (2021) provide a detailed analysis of these ratings and show how the dimensional model generalizes across the world. There are two different data files. Oosterhof & Todorov (2008) used the averages of the standardized scores of individual participants’ judgments (see p. 1 of SM in Oosterhof & Todorov, 2008). Todorov & Oh (2021) used the averages of the unstandardized scores for consistency with subsequent studies. The second file consists of the standardized scores of these averages.
If you use these ratings, any resulting written work should acknowledge the original source of the faces (Lundqvist, Flykt, & Ohman 1998), Oosterhof & Todorov (2008), and Todorov & Oh (2021). The exact references are:
Lundqvist, D., Flykt, A., & Ohman, A. (1998) Karolinska Directed Emotional Faces [Database of standardized facial images]. Psychology Section, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Hospital, S-171 76 Stockholm, Sweden
Oosterhof, N. N., & Todorov, A. (2008). The functional basis of face evaluation. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA, 105, 11087-11092.
Todorov, A., & Oh, D. (2021). The structure and perceptual basis of social judgments from faces. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, Vol. 63, 189-246.
Click here to download the files: a ReadMe text file, and 2 data files with the mean ratings (one is the averages of the standardized scores of individual participants’ judgments; the other is the standardized scores of the averages of the unstandardized scores).