The Traitors: Study reveals why it’s so hard for players to know who to trust ahead of series final
If you’re a Traitors fan screaming at the TV telling faithful contestants they’re stupid for trusting the enemy – scientists have news for you.
The process of how we judge trustworthiness in social situations is different to what was once thought, they say – and can be misleading.
Researchers at the University of Aberdeen say their findings could reveal why the traitors are proving so elusive.
In the game, the faithful players must try to eliminate the traitors, while the traitors try to evade detection and pick off the faithful. And all the while, every player is trying to convince the others they are “100% faithful”.
The study found that when somebody meets a group of people, they judge their trustworthiness by combining their facial features together into one “composite face”.
‘There’s just something about them I don’t trust’
Rather than meticulously examining each single individual face, we blend the trustworthiness impressions of all the faces to get the gist of the group, according to the research.
This process – termed “ensemble perception” – happens in about a quarter of a second, the researchers found.
It is thought to be useful as it allows people to quickly extract perceived social information.
But it can also take us down the wrong path in the blink of an eye (take note, faithfuls).
“Trustworthiness impressions of a group can potentially influence our behaviour towards that group,” researcher and postgraduate student Fiammetta Marini said.
“But it is important to remember that we are only talking about facial features. Maybe what it really shows is that we should focus on what people do as opposed to judgements about whether we like the look of them.
“This can explain why people may say things like ‘there’s just something about them I don’t trust’ or ‘I don’t trust any of them’.
“And yes – it may explain why the traitors are proving so elusive.”
Read more from Sky News:
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The Traitors contestant Harry. Pic: Studio Lambert/Mark Mainz/BBC
Traitor or trustworthy? Don’t be fooled by a ‘surprised’ face
We subconsciously judge if someone is trustworthy based on their facial characteristics, Ms Marini said – despite these markers not being accurate or reliable.
For example, high eyebrows that seem “surprised looking” and a U-shaped mouth are usually seen as trustworthy, while close-set eyes or lower eyebrows are not.
These impressions of trustworthiness are not accurate enough to be relied on as foundations for real-world decision-making, Ms Marini said.
She added: “Regardless – we make these split-second judgements and they have a big impact in our everyday lives. Even if these impressions are not always accurate they invariably shape our social behaviour.”
The study, published in the journal Cognition, found that split-second judgements could have implications for witness identification line-ups in police investigations.
The findings may also be applied to understanding how people judge the trustworthiness of members of a political party.
A 53-year-old man has been charged after a car was driven into a crowd at Liverpool FC’s trophy parade.
Paul Doyle, from the West Derby area of Liverpool, has been charged with seven offences, Merseyside Police said.
The businessman, who is a father-of-three, is accused of two counts of unlawful and malicious wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, and two counts of causing unlawful and malicious grievous bodily harm with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.
Paul Doyle
Doyle is also accused of two counts of attempted unlawful and malicious grievous bodily harm with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, and one count of dangerous driving.
He is due to appear before Liverpool Magistrates Court on Friday.
The charges relate to six people, including two children. A wounding charge and an attempted grievous bodily harm charge relate to a child.
A police car was outside Doyle’s four-bedroom detached family home in the West Derby area on Thursday morning.
According to his social media, he has travelled extensively including Japan, Fiji, India and Australia. Doyle has posted pictures of himself competing in triathlons, and climbing Mount Kilimanjaro.
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New Liverpool incident footage
Thousands of fans were gathered in Liverpool city centre on Monday to celebrate the Premier League champions’ title win when a car struck a crowd on Water Street.
Police said a total of 79 people were injured in the incident, with the youngest aged nine, and the oldest being a 78-year-old.
Seven people remain in hospital in a stable condition.
Forensic officers at the scene in Water Street. Pic: PA
‘Huge volume of evidence’
Chief crown prosecutor for the CPS Mersey-Cheshire, Sarah Hammond, told a news conference on Thursday that the investigation was at an early stage and a “huge volume of evidence” was being reviewed.
“This includes multiple pieces of video footage and numerous witness statements. It is important to ensure that every victim gets the justice they deserve.
“The charges will be kept under review as the investigation progresses.”
Police ‘working tirelessly’
Also at the briefing where the charges were announced was Assistant Chief Constable of Merseyside Police, Jenny Sims, who said: “I fully understand how this incident has left us all shocked and saddened, and I know many will continue to have concerns and questions.
“Our detectives are working tirelessly, with diligence and professionalism, to seek the answer to all of those questions. When we are able to, we will provide further information.”
The youngest victim injured in the Liverpool parade crash on Monday is nine years old, police have said.
They added that the oldest is 78, with all 79 people injured understood to be British. Seven remain in hospital in a stable condition.
Merseyside Police declined to say what drug the 53-year-old man arrested over the incident is alleged to have taken.
“We wouldn’t go into this detail at this stage of the investigation,” the force said.
Police at the scene in Liverpool. Pic: AP
Forensic officers in Water Street. Pic: PA
Police are still questioning the driver and were granted further time to do so on Wednesday.
Officers have until Thursday evening to question the man from West Derby.
He is in custody on suspicion of attempted murder, dangerous driving and drug driving.
Police believe the car which struck pedestrians was able to follow an ambulance crew attending to someone suffering a heart attack after a road block was temporarily lifted.
Hundreds of thousands of Liverpool fans had turned out to celebrate their team’s Premier League title when the incident unfolded on Water Street just after 6pm on Monday.
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‘My boy in his pram, got bounced’
‘The best day of my life turned into worst’
Sky News interviewed a lifelong Liverpool fan who said his five-month-old son was “bounced” 15ft (4.6m) in his pram after they were hit by the vehicle.
The child was not counted in the police’s injury tally.
Daniel Eveson, 36, also said his partner had been driven over.
“The best day of my life turned into [the] worst,” Mr Eveson said.
He added: “Me and my partner were flat on the roof, on the bonnet… we were just both trying to hold on for dear life with Ted next to us.
“And my partner went under the wheels of the car, of the front of the car, and it rolled over her leg, and I just bounced off to the side, but my boy and his pram got bounced totally in the opposite direction – about 15ft down the road.”
Read more:
How the parade crash unfolded
Police given more time to question Liverpool suspect
Why police released ‘unprecedented’ details
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer travelled to Liverpool to meet with police chiefs and the local metro mayor.
He said he was being kept informed of developments, adding: “The scenes on Monday were just awful, to see how incredible joy at an amazing achievement turned to horror in a moment.”
Messages of support have been sent to the people of Liverpool, including from the King who said: “I know that the strength of community spirit for which your city is renowned will be a comfort and support to those in need.”
The Prince and Princess of Wales said they were “deeply saddened” by the incident.
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