Wrinkles make humans appear untrustworthy.
People with wrinkles are considered to be untrustworthy
It is often thought that the lines etched in faces are signs of wisdom but a new study has found that we consider people with wrinkles to be less pleasant and trustworthy.
Boffins at the Humboldt University of Berlin asked 353 people to rate pictures of avatars with and without lines on their faces.
The participants had to judge how attractive, warm, pleasant, trustworthy, moral and balanced each person appeared and also had to rate the degree to which each face expressed emotions such as happiness, anger, sadness, fear, disgust and surprise.
Analysis published in the journal Acta Psycholgica revealed that wrinkly faces are regarded as less attractive and trustworthy - with the effect more pronounced in females.
The experts said: "These findings suggest older people may often be perceived as less pleasant for no other reason than the wrinkles in their face and the judgements of attractiveness and emotionally associated with them. Given that first impressions are hard to correct, this may have lasting implications.
"The negative effects of wrinkles could speak in favour of the beauty industry's mission to satisfy the collective demand for smooth foreheads and tight jawlines."