Facial profiling: New study shows facial structure can reveal personality
Study connects structure of face to aggressive behavior, but what does it really tell us?
By Helen JupiterTue, Nov 03 2009 at 3:03 AM EST
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Photo: Andrew Mason/Flickr We’ve all heard of racial profiling, but what about facial profiling? It may sound silly, but new research from a team of Brock University psychologists suggests that we subconsciously ascertain possible aggression in others based on their facial structure. The findings, published recently in Psychological Science, show that face shape — specifically a measurement called facial width-to-height ratio (WHR) — may influence the instant judgments we make about others. Not only that, but the Brock University study demonstrates that these automatic predictions can be remarkably accurate.
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WHR is a measurement of the distance between the right and left cheeks and the distance from the upper lip to the mid-brow. In the Brock University study, men with greater WHR received a higher aggressiveness rating by volunteers.
History has shown that physiognomy is an imperfect science, so while it may seem that this study indicates a reliable link between facial structure and personality, it probably reveals more about the visual cues we use to predict personality traits in one another.
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Comments
WKT
02/14/2011 17:39 PM
Feb. 2011
I have been playing with this amateur "informal profiling" for as along as I can remember. And, colleagues of mine I have shared this with.… I would tell them that I could meet someone, and if I found to have known someone with similar visual face and body (face being primary) and (body being secondary) features, I can with a degree certainty also find similarities in the two's personalities. I have even on some occasions talked to one person and tell them I can give them.... More
Renegade Jojo
11/06/2009 01:40 AM
Whoa, cool study. Agree with the last commenter that study participants may also have picked up on other facial features along with WHR; muscles of the face are tightly linked to emotional state, so maybe you can read a history of violence in the way we hold muscles of our mouth, eyes, and forehead, for example. The writer is bang-on that the study is very cool demonstration of way we use essentially genetic visual cues to rapidly size each other up. Life is interesting.
Cynthia Anderson
11/03/2009 12:14 PM
While I am usually not in favor of anything that encourages people to make snap judgements based on 'gut' reaction vs. actual interaction, I think this study is very interesting. Is it possible that the subjects were picking up on more than just bone structure? i.e. tension around the eyes or a stern looking mouth? Probably, but it definitely makes for a thought provoking subject.
