Does a wide head mean you're aggressive? People with fat faces are more dominant and have higher amounts of testosterone

  • Those with broad features, like Wayne Rooney, are more likely to get angry
  • Trait may be linked to the evolutionary benefit of having thick cheekbones
  • Those who had more robust facial bones could better withstand a punch
  • Testosterone tends to make faces wider and is also linked to aggression

By Ben Spencer, Science Reporter for the Daily Mail

Published: 18:02 EST, 21 October 2014 | Updated: 18:02 EST, 21 October 2014

You cannot judge a book by its cover, the old saying goes.

But you might be able to judge someone's personality from the shape of their face, scientists have realised.

Men and women with wide faces tend to be more aggressive, dominant and angry, according to British research.

Men and women with wide faces tend to be more aggressive, dominant and angry, according to British research. Those with broad features - Sylvester Stallone (left) or Sarah Palin (right) - are more likely to have bad tempers and display bouts of verbal or physical aggression
Men and women with wide faces tend to be more aggressive, dominant and angry, according to British research. Those with broad features - Sylvester Stallone (left) or Sarah Palin (right) - are more likely to have bad tempers and display bouts of verbal or physical aggression

Men and women with wide faces tend to be more aggressive, dominant and angry, according to British research. Those with broad features - Sylvester Stallone (left) or Sarah Palin (right) - are more likely to have bad tempers and display bouts of verbal or physical aggression

Those with broad features - like Wayne Rooney, Sylvester Stallone or Sarah Palin - are more likely to have bad tempers and display bouts of verbal or physical aggression.

Psychologists think the trait is linked to the evolutionary benefit of having thick cheekbones.

Those who had more robust facial bones could be more aggressive, because they could better withstand a punch, the scientists suggest.

Lead researcher Dr Carmen Lefevre of Leeds University said: 'Those with a higher facial width-to-height ratio are more likely to be more aggressive than those with lower facial width-to-height ratio.

Psychologists think the aggressive trait is linked to the evolutionary benefit of having thick cheekbones found in wider faces such as that of footballer Wayne Rooney (pictured). Those who had more robust facial bones could be more aggressive, because they could better withstand a punch, the scientists suggest

Psychologists think the aggressive trait is linked to the evolutionary benefit of having thick cheekbones found in wider faces such as that of footballer Wayne Rooney (pictured). Those who had more robust facial bones could be more aggressive, because they could better withstand a punch, the scientists suggest

'We are not saying that every single person with wider faces will be more aggressive, but if you take a sample of the two groups, those with wider faces will be slightly more aggressive.'

MEN WITH WIDE FACES EARN £1,300 MORE THAN COLLEAGUES

Men with wide faces have been getting a bad reputation lately.

Scientists had previously suggested large faces were prone to being more aggressive, untrustworthy and deceitful.

But now there may be good news for the likes of Alan Sugar and Wayne Rooney. Researchers in the U.S. claim people with wide faces are more likely to get a bonus compared with their thin-faced rivals

Fuller faced workers earn £1,300 (£2,090) more than those with narrow faces when asking for a bonus, the study found.

However, researchers said this comes with a compromise. Wide faced people fared less well when it came to business negotiations.

And men who are more attractive are better collaborators compared to less attractive men, they said.

Previous research based on the 'facial width-to-height ratio' found individuals behave more selfishly when interacting with men with wider faces.

This research claims that while men with wider faces are more likely to lie and cheat, they tend to lead more financially successful firms.

'We negotiate everyday whether we think about it or not,' said University of California's Professor Michael Haselhuhn.

'It’s not just the big things, like a car or a home. It’s what time your kid is going to go to bed or what you or your spouse are going to have for dinner.

'These studies show that being a man with a wider face can be both a blessing and a curse and awareness of this may be important for future business success.' 

The psychologist, whose work is published by the Royal Society journal Biology Letters today, said testosterone may be a factor.

'Testosterone tends to make faces wider and testosterone is also linked to aggression,' she said.

'We also speculate that there might be an evolutionary link. One speculation is that if someone with a wider face gets punched they won't be damaged as much. They can afford to be more aggressive.'

Dr Lefevre and colleagues at Bristol University, Bath Spa University and Brunel University studied 49 women and 54 men aged 18 to 30.

They measured the breadth from cheek to cheek and the vertical gap between their upper lip and highest point of their eyelids.

They then asked them a series of questions to assess their dominance, aggression, anger and hostility.

The psychologists found that those participants with broader features proportionate to the height of their faces were more likely to be aggressive, have bad tempers and be more dominant.

And they found that the tendencies applied to both men and women.

Not all scientists agree with the findings however.

A separate piece of research published yesterday by American researchers, found that facial features trigger a 'face-ist' response which influence the way personalities are perceived by others.

But the US team, whose work was published in the journal Trends in Cognitive Sciences, said the perceptions are misleading and do not reflect real personality traits.

Christopher Olivola of Carnegie Mellon University in Pennsylvania said: 'Although we would like to think our judgments and choices are rational, impartial, consistent, and solely based on relevant information, the truth is that they are often biased by superficial and irrelevant factors.

'This is a troubling human tendency that needs to be corrected, or at least mitigated, because faces are not valid predictors of a person's traits.

A separate study found that on average, fuller faced workers such as Simon Cowell on the left earn £1,300 more than those with narrow faces (such as that of David Tennet on the right) when asking for a bonus
A separate study found that on average, fuller faced workers such as Simon Cowell on the left earn £1,300 more than those with narrow faces (such as that of David Tennet on the right) when asking for a bonus

A separate study found that on average, fuller faced workers such as Simon Cowell on the left earn £1,300 more than those with narrow faces (such as that of David Tennet on the right) when asking for a bonus

 

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