Estimating Aggression from Emotionally Neutral Faces: Which Facial Cues are Diagnostic?

Carré, Justin M.; Morrissey, Mark D.; Mondloch, Catherine J.; McCormick, Cheryl M.

doi:10.1068/p6543

Cited by 80 publications

(90 citation statements)

References 52 publications

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“…Indeed, individuals are more likely to follow the gaze of masculine faced men and women compared to feminine faced individuals (Jones et al, 2010). In line with these ideas, and with the findings that this ratio in CEO's predicts company profits, the facial width-to-height ratio have been associated with perceived aggression, trait dominance using questionnaires, and aggression in a naturalistic setting (Carre and McCormick, 2008;Carre et al, 2009;Carre et al, 2010).…”

Section: Understanding Why Appearance Matterssupporting

confidence: 64%

Evolution, Appearance, and Occupational Success

Little

Roberts

2012

Evol Psychol

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Visual characteristics, including facial appearance, are thought to play an important role in a variety of judgments and decisions that have real occupational outcomes in many settings. Indeed, there is growing evidence suggesting that appearance influences hiring decisions and even election results. For example, attractive individuals are more likely to be hired, taller men earn more, and the facial appearance of candidates has been linked to real election outcomes. In this article, we review evidence linking physical appearance to occupational success and evaluate the hypothesis that appearance based biases are consistent with predictions based on evolutionary theories of coalition formation and leadership choice. We discuss why appearance based effects are so pervasive, addressing ideas about a "kernel of truth" in attributions and about coalitional psychology. We additionally highlight that appearance may be differently related to success at work according to the types of job or task involved. For example, leaders may be chosen because the characteristics they possess are seen as best suited to lead in particular situations. During a time of war, a dominant-appearing leader may inspire confidence and intimidate enemies while during peace-time, when negotiation and diplomacy are needed, interpersonal skills may outweigh the value of a dominant leader. In line with these ideas, masculine-faced leaders are favored in war-time scenarios while feminine-faced leaders are favored in peace-time scenarios. We suggest that such environment or task specific competencies may be prevalent during selection processes, whereby individuals whose appearance best matches perceived task competences are most likely selected, and propose the general term "task-congruent selection" to describe these effects. Overall, our review highlights how potentially adaptive biases could influence choices in the work place. With respect to certain biases, understanding their origin and current prevalence is important in order to potentially reduce discrimination in the work place.

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Section: Understanding Why Appearance Matterssupporting

confidence: 64%

Evolution, Appearance, and Occupational Success

Little

Roberts

2012

Evol Psychol

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“…Recent research (e.g. [13,28]) has demonstrated that observers view men's facial WHR as a signal of aggression and untrustworthiness, and adjust their behaviour as a result of these perceptions. If, for instance, observers respond to facial cues by deferring to men whom they perceive to be aggressive based on their facial WHR, these men may find it easier to take advantage of others.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bad to the bone: facial structure predicts unethical behaviour

2011

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Researchers spanning many scientific domains, including primatology, evolutionary biology and psychology, have sought to establish an evolutionary basis for morality. While researchers have identified social and cognitive adaptations that support ethical behaviour, a consensus has emerged that genetically determined physical traits are not reliable signals of unethical intentions or actions. Challenging this view, we show that genetically determined physical traits can serve as reliable predictors of unethical behaviour if they are also associated with positive signals in intersex and intrasex selection. Specifically, we identify a key physical attribute, the facial width-to-height ratio, which predicts unethical behaviour in men. Across two studies, we demonstrate that men with wider faces (relative to facial height) are more likely to explicitly deceive their counterparts in a negotiation, and are more willing to cheat in order to increase their financial gain. Importantly, we provide evidence that the link between facial metrics and unethical behaviour is mediated by a psychological sense of power. Our results demonstrate that static physical attributes can indeed serve as reliable cues of immoral action, and provide additional support for the view that evolutionary forces shape ethical judgement and behaviour.

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“…The ratings of aggression were found to be correlated with both the participant's face ratio and the participant's aggression during the PSAP. Additionally, the association between the face ratio and estimates of aggression persisted even when the same stimuli were displayed for as little as 39 ms [9], blurred (to prevent judgements based on individual facial features [15]) or cropped (to maintain the face ratio yet remove influence of forehead, chin, and ears [15]). In another study, adult and 8-year-old White (from Canada) and Asian (from China) observers judged aggression in same- and other- race male faces (White and Asian faces [16]).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Facing Aggression: Cues Differ for Female versus Male Faces

et al. 2012

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The facial width-to-height ratio (face ratio), is a sexually dimorphic metric associated with actual aggression in men and with observers' judgements of aggression in male faces. Here, we sought to determine if observers' judgements of aggression were associated with the face ratio in female faces. In three studies, participants rated photographs of female and male faces on aggression, femininity, masculinity, attractiveness, and nurturing. In Studies 1 and 2, for female and male faces, judgements of aggression were associated with the face ratio even when other cues in the face related to masculinity were controlled statistically. Nevertheless, correlations between the face ratio and judgements of aggression were smaller for female than for male faces (F1,36 = 7.43, p = 0.01). In Study 1, there was no significant relationship between judgements of femininity and of aggression in female faces. In Study 2, the association between judgements of masculinity and aggression was weaker in female faces than for male faces in Study 1. The weaker association in female faces may be because aggression and masculinity are stereotypically male traits. Thus, in Study 3, observers rated faces on nurturing (a stereotypically female trait) and on femininity. Judgements of nurturing were associated with femininity (positively) and masculinity (negatively) ratings in both female and male faces. In summary, the perception of aggression differs in female versus male faces. The sex difference was not simply because aggression is a gendered construct; the relationships between masculinity/femininity and nurturing were similar for male and female faces even though nurturing is also a gendered construct. Masculinity and femininity ratings are not associated with aggression ratings nor with the face ratio for female faces. In contrast, all four variables are highly inter-correlated in male faces, likely because these cues in male faces serve as “honest signals”.

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Estimating Aggression from Emotionally Neutral Faces: Which Facial Cues are Diagnostic?

Cited by 80 publications

References 52 publications

Evolution, Appearance, and Occupational Success

Evolution, Appearance, and Occupational Success

Bad to the bone: facial structure predicts unethical behaviour

Facing Aggression: Cues Differ for Female versus Male Faces

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