The simple mistake that you could be making in your Zoom interviews

Should Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has a serious credibility problem among Israelis and even his ministers and MKs – not to mention the opposition – place houseplants or bookcases behind him when speaking online to seem more trustworthy?

First impressions are made instantly. According to a new UK study, people tend to judge faces appearing against backgrounds featuring potted plants or bookshelves as more competent and having more integrity than faces with a living space or a novelty image behind them. Gender and facial expression also appeared to influence judgments, according to the study, led by Paddy Ross, Abi Cook and Meg Thompson at Durham University. It has just been published in the open-access journal PLOS ONE under the title “Virtual first impressions: Zoom backgrounds affect judgments of trust and competence.” 

Previous research has shown that first impressions can make a real difference in people’s lives. For example, they can influence criminal sentencing decisions or choices of romantic partners. In recent years, a major increase in videoconferencing has resulted in many first impressions of others now occurring virtually. Popular videoconferencing platforms let users customize their background image, but few studies have explored how background choice might influence first impressions.

Videoconferencing platforms simulate face-to-face meetings yet there are distinct situational differences between in-person and virtual interactions. In face-to-face meetings, there is limited control of the environment. In contrast, individuals can change the videoconferencing environment by blurring their background or selecting a virtual background. This disparity is significant because visual context influences first impressions.

How should you dress for a Zoom interviews?

Presentation is an important part of impression formation as formally dressed job applicants are rated as more competent and have dramatically increased hiring recommendations compared to informally dressed candidates, they wrote. “Virtual background could be considered an extension of professional appearance because personal spaces evoke character inferences. Survey research of professionals supports this notion as video background evaluations parallel dress attire with background judged to be more important than clothing choice. Virtual backgrounds have therefore been characterized as the new business suit.” 

Ross and colleagues asked 167 adults to view still images that seemed to have been captured during a videoconference. Each one showed the face of a man or woman either smiling or with a neutral expression, against a background featuring a living space, a blurred living space, houseplants, a bookcase, a blank wall, or a novelty image of a walrus on an iceberg. Participants reported how competent and trustworthy they perceived each face to be.

Statistical analysis showed that participants rated faces against the houseplant and bookcase backgrounds as being more trustworthy and competent than faces with other backgrounds. Faces against a living space or novelty image were rated as the least competent or trustworthy.

The importance of a happy face 

Participants tended to perceive happy faces as more trustworthy and competent than neutral faces, the researchers found.  They also perceived female faces as more trustworthy and competent overall – but among female faces, those with the living-space background were perceived as no less trustworthy than those with houseplants or a bookcase, suggesting that the lower trustworthiness associated with the living-space background were primarily driven by male faces.

More research is needed to confirm these findings and determine whether they apply across cultural contexts—for instance, the image database used in the study primarily featured white individuals. Nonetheless, they suggest that videoconference users concerned with making a good impression, especially men, might smile and choose a background with houseplants or a bookcase.

The authors concluded: “This research shows how our Zoom backgrounds can affect the first impressions we make. If you want to come across as trustworthy and competent there are some backgrounds you should use and some you should definitely avoid.”