ArticleRoyal Society open science2022
Tracking sexual dimorphism of facial width-to-height ratio across the lifespan: implications for perceived aggressiveness.
Article in Royal Society open science, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers.
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Who cites it
7 citing papers in PubMed.
- Self-reported aggressiveness does not follow facial masculinization in diverse South Asian populations.PNAS nexus · 2026Article
- Three-Dimensional Geometric Morphometric Characterization of Facial Sexual Dimorphism in Juveniles.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Relative facial width, and its association with canine size and body mass among chimpanzees and bonobos: Implications for understanding facial width-to-height ratio expression among human populations.American journal of biological anthropology · 2025Article
- Using data-driven phenotyping to investigate the impact of sex on 3D human facial surface morphology.Journal of anatomy · 2023Article
- When he smiles: Attractiveness preferences for male faces expressing emotions.Evolutionary human sciences · 2023Article
- Does the primate face cue personality?Personality neuroscience · 2023Article
- Tracking sexual dimorphism of facial width-to-height ratio across the lifespan: implications for perceived aggressiveness.Royal Society open science · 2022Article
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
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Abstract
The facial width-to-height ratio (FWHR) influences social judgements like perceived aggression. This may be because FWHR is a sexually dimorphic feature, with males having higher FWHR than females. However, evidence for sexual dimorphism is mixed, little is known about how it varies with age, and the relationship between sexual dimorphism and perceived aggressiveness is unclear. We addressed these gaps by measuring FWHR of 17 607 passport images of male and female faces across the lifespan. We found larger FWHR in males only in young adulthood, aligning with the stage most commonly associated with mate selection and intrasexual competition. However, the direction of dimorphism was reversed after 48 years of age, with females recording larger FWHRs than males. We then examined how natural variation in FWHR affected perceived aggressiveness. The relationship between FWHR and perceived aggressiveness was strongest for males at 27-33 and females at 34-61. Raters were most sensitive to differences in FWHR for young adult male faces, pointing to enhanced sensitivity to FWHR as a cue to aggressiveness. This may reflect a common mechanism for evaluating male aggressiveness from variability in structural (FWHR) and malleable (emotional expression) aspects of the face.
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