People with certain faces are more likely to get away with things

Some people are more likely to get away with mischief if they have a trustworthy face while others are more likely to just look guilty.

Those with v-shaped eyebrows and frowning mouths are consistently deemed less trustworthy than those with upside-down v-shaped eyebrows and mouths with upturned corners.

That's according to a recent study in Personnel Psychology from researchers at Temple University in the US, which builds on previous research, showing "perceptions of justice" are based partly on fact but also based partly on the initial impressions someone's face gives.

To back up the findings, researchers carried out a test where they told 609 participants that a company CEO had to cut pay for his staff by 15 per cent to avoid redundancies in tough economic times.

Participants judged the decision as fairer when they were shown a biography of the CEO which included a portrait bearing those upturned eyebrows compared to those who were shown the CEO with the frowning features.

They were also asked if there were any fairer ways the CEO could have dealt with the cutbacks - those who saw the trustworthy face were less likely to believe there were any fairer methods.

So as much as we like to think we judge a person based on their decisions, sadly it seems we're wired to be far more prejudiced than that.

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