![[PDF]](/pb-assets/Icons/adobe-pdf-icon-1498649896243.png){kind=icon}
Abstract
Male facial width-to-height ratio appears to correlate with antisocial tendencies, such as aggression, exploitation, cheating, and deception. We present evidence that male facial width-to-height ratio is also associated with a stereotypically male prosocial tendency: to increase cooperation with other in-group members during intergroup competition. We found that men who had wider faces, compared with men who had narrower faces, showed more self-sacrificing cooperation to help their group members when there was competition with another group. We propose that this finding makes sense given the evolutionary functions of social helpfulness and aggression.
References
Section:
| Atran, S. (2003). Genesis of suicide terrorism. Science, 299, 1534–1539. Google Scholar, Crossref, Medline, ISI | |
| Baumeister, R. F., Sommer, K. L. (1997). What do men want? Gender differences and two spheres of belongingness: Comment on Cross and Madson (1997). Psychological Bulletin, 122, 38–44. Google Scholar, Crossref, Medline, ISI | |
| Buss, D. M. (2005). The handbook of evolutionary psychology. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons. Google Scholar | |
| Carré, J. M., McCormick, C. M. (2008). In your face: Facial metrics predict aggressive behaviour in the laboratory and in varsity and professional hockey players. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 275, 2651–2656. doi:10.1098/rspb.2008.087310.1098/rspb.2008.0873 Google Scholar, Crossref, Medline, ISI | |
| Carré, J. M., McCormick, C. M., Mondloch, C. J. (2009). Facial structure is a reliable cue of aggressive behavior. Psychological Science, 20, 1194–1198. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9280.2009.02423.x10.1111/j.1467-9280.2009.02423.x Google Scholar, SAGE Journals, ISI | |
| Chagnon, N. A. (1988). Life histories, blood revenge, and warfare in a tribal population. Science, 239, 985–992. Google Scholar, Crossref, Medline, ISI | |
| Eagly, A. H. (1987). Sex differences in social behavior: A social-role interpretation. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum. Google Scholar | |
| Eagly, A. H., Crowley, M. (1986). Gender and helping behavior: A meta-analytic analysis of the social psychological literature. Psychological Bulletin, 100, 283–308. Google Scholar, Crossref | |
| Fox, J. A., Zawitz, M. W. (2011). Homicide trends in the U.S. Retrieved from http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/homicide/homtrnd.cfm Google Scholar | |
| Haselhuhn, M. P., Wong, E. M. (2012). Bad to the bone: Facial structure predicts unethical behaviour. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 279, 571–576. doi:10.1098/rspb.2011.119310.1098/rspb.2011.1193 Google Scholar, Crossref, Medline, ISI | |
| MacCoby, E., Jacklin, C. (1980). Sex differences in aggression: A rejoinder and reprise. Child Development, 51, 964–980. Google Scholar, Crossref, Medline, ISI | |
| Özener, B. (2011). Facial width-to-height ratio in a Turkish population is not sexually dimorphic and is unrelated to aggressive behavior. Evolution and Human Behavior. Advance online publication. doi:10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2011.08.00110.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2011.08.001 Google Scholar, Crossref | |
| Palmer, C. T., Tilley, C. F. (1995). Sexual access to females as a motivation for joining gangs: An evolutionary approach. Journal of Sex Research, 32, 213–217. Google Scholar, Crossref, ISI | |
| Perrett, D. I., Lee, K. J., Penton-Voak, I., Rowland, D., Yoshikawa, S., Burt, D. M., . . . Akamatsu, S. (1998). Effects of sexual dimorphism on facial attractiveness. Nature, 394, 884–887. Google Scholar, Crossref, Medline, ISI | |
| Pound, N., Penton-Voak, I. S., Debruine, L. M., Jones, B. C., Sohki, S., Trudel, K. (2010, June). What makes a face masculine? Comparing measures of sexual dimorphism. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Human Behavior & Evolution Society, Eugene, OR. Google Scholar | |
| Rule, N. O., Ambady, N. (2008). The face of success: Inferences from chief executive officers’ appearance predict company profits. Psychological Science, 19, 109–111. Google Scholar, SAGE Journals, ISI | |
| Sell, A., Cosmides, L., Tooby, J., Sznycer, D., von Rueden, C., Gurven, M. (2009). Human adaptations for the visual assessment of strength and fighting ability from the body and face. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 276, 575–584. Google Scholar, Crossref, Medline, ISI | |
| Sell, A., Tooby, J., Cosmides, L. (2009). Formidability and the logic of human anger. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA, 106, 15073–15078. doi:10.1073/pnas.090431210610.1073/pnas.0904312106 Google Scholar, Crossref, Medline, ISI | |
| Stirrat, M., Perrett, D. I. (2010). Valid facial cues to cooperation and trust: Male facial width and trustworthiness. Psychological Science, 21, 349–354. doi:10.1177/095679761036264710.1177/0956797610362647 Google Scholar, SAGE Journals, ISI | |
| Tooby, J., Cosmides, L. (1988). The evolution of war and its cognitive foundations (Technical Report No. 88-1). Palo Alto, CA: Institute for Evolutionary Studies. Google Scholar | |
| Van Vugt, M., De Cremer, D., Janssen, D. P. (2007). Gender differences in cooperation and competition: The male-warrior hypothesis. Psychological Science, 18, 19–23. Google Scholar, SAGE Journals, ISI | |
| Verdonck, A., Gaethofs, M., Carels, C., de Zegher, F. (1999). Effect of low-dose testosterone treatment on craniofacial growth in boys with delayed puberty. European Journal of Orthodontics, 21, 137–143. Google Scholar, Crossref, Medline, ISI | |
| Weston, E. M., Friday, A. E., Johnstone, R. A., Schrenk, F. (2004). Wide faces or large canines? The attractive versus the aggressive primate. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 271, S416–S419. Google Scholar, Crossref, Medline | |
| Weston, E. M., Friday, A. E., Lio, P. (2007). Biometric evidence that sexual selection has shaped the hominin face. PLoS ONE, 2(8), e710. Retrieved from http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0000710 Google Scholar | |
| Wong, E. M., Ormiston, M. E., Haselhuhn, M. P. (2011). A face only an investor could love: CEO facial structure predicts firm financial performance. Psychological Science, 22, 1478–1483. doi:10.1177/095679761141883810.1177/0956797611418838 Google Scholar, SAGE Journals | |
| Wrangham, R. W. (1999). Evolution of coalitionary killing. Yearbook of Physical Anthropology, 42, 1–30. Google Scholar, Crossref |
