Headlines or social media quizzes asking you to examine pictures of infants and guess “which one is a little girl” rely on classic engagement-bait clickbait. They wrap a completely arbitrary guessing game in the guise of a “psychological test” or “intuition challenge” to drive comments, shares, and clicks.
Understanding why these tests are scientifically meaningless helps separate internet parlor tricks from actual psychology.
Why “Guess the Baby” Clickbait Misleads
Sensationalized quizzes thrive on cognitive biases and false promises:
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The “Zero Biological Basis” Reality: Newborn and infant physical features—such as facial bone structure, hair volume, eye shape, and body proportions—are entirely determined by genetics, ethnicity, and individual development. There is no biological, visual, or psychological marker that distinguishes a male infant’s face from a female infant’s face prior to puberty.
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The Barnum Effect: These quizzes rely on the psychological trick of making a vague, randomized claim seem deeply insightful after you make your guess, tricking your brain into believing the “test” actually analyzed your intuition.
The Bottom Line
Ignore the viral clickbait quizzes claiming to test your psychological intuition by guessing an infant’s sex from a photograph. Newborns look like newborns, and distinguishing between them visually is nothing more than a coin toss.
