In the face of dominance: Self-perceived and other-perceived dominance are positively associated with facial-width-to-height ratio in men

Citation

Mileva VR, Cowan ML, Cobey KD, Knowles K & Little A (2014) In the face of dominance: Self-perceived and other-perceived dominance are positively associated with facial-width-to-height ratio in men. Personality and Individual Differences, 69, pp. 115-118. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2014.05.019

Abstract
In recent research, facial width-to-height ratio (fWHR) has garnered considerable attention because it has been linked with different behavioural characteristics (e.g., achievement drive, deception, aggression). Here we examined whether other-perceptions and self-perceptions of dominance are related to fWHR. In study 1, we found that other-perceived dominance was positively associated with fWHR, but only in men. In studies 2 and 3, using two different self-perceived dominance scales, and two different samples of participants, we found that fWHR was positively related to self-perceived dominance, again only in men. There was no relationship between fWHR and self-perceived prestige scores. Consistent with previous work, we also found that there was no sexual dimorphism in fWHR across all three studies. Together these results suggest that fWHR may be a reliable cue to dominant social behaviour in men.

Keywords
Facial width-to-height ratio; Dominance; Prestige; Sexual dimorphism; Facial metrics

Journal
Personality and Individual Differences: Volume 69

People

Dr Viktoria Mileva

Lecturer in Psychology, Psychology