Perceptions of an individual can change dramatically across different images of their face; however, questions remain as to whether the variability in perceptions is linked to specific traits for naturalistic images. In this pre-registered study, we constructed and used a database of naturalistic faces to investigate whether some traits are more sensitive to image variability than others. Ninety-five participants rated a total of 340 images (20 photos from 17 individuals) on one of three traits: trustworthiness, dominance, or attractiveness. Across images, trustworthiness judgements tended to vary more than dominance, which in turn varied more than attractiveness; however, the relative differences between traits depended on the identity in question. Importantly, despite the variability in ratings within identities, there were substantial differences between identities, suggesting that these trait judgments are based to some degree on relatively invariant facial characteristics. We found greater between-identity variability for attractiveness judgements compared to both trustworthiness and dominance. Future research should further investigate the extent to which each trait dimension is tied to the identity of the faces.
