Factors that influence ratings of facial appearance for children with cleft lip and palate.

This study examined the influence of familiarity and gender of raters on judgments of facial appearance for individuals with repaired cleft lip and palate. Forty professionals familiar with cleft lip and palate and forty individuals unfamiliar with the disorder were asked to examine photographs of 24 adolescents and rate them for facial appearance. The familiar judges assigned more negative ratings of facial appearance than did the unfamiliar judges. In addition, males responded more negatively than did females. There was also a significant gender by familiarity interaction, with familiar males assigning more negative ratings of appearance than any other group.