Wide-Faced Men Make
Others Act Selfishly
 |
| A wide and narrow face. A series of studies by two UC Riverside assistant professors shows individuals behave more selfishly when interacting with men with wider faces. (Credit: Image courtesy of University of California - Riverside) |
Two
assistant professors of management at the University of California, Riverside
and several other researchers have previously shown that men with wider faces
are more aggressive, less trustworthy and more prone to engaging in deception.
Now,
in a just-published paper, they have shown, in a series of four studies, that
individuals behave more selfishly when interacting with men with wider faces
and this selfish behavior elicits selfish behavior in others.
"This
clearly shows that this behavior is also socially driven, not just biologically
driven," said Michael P. Haselhuhn, an assistant professor of management
at UC Riverside's School of Business Administration, who is the lead author of
the paper.
 |
| CCA Party leaders Council Boss Tom Gentz and Deputy Dan Slattery - study says men with faces like these are "more aggressive, less trustworthy and more prone to engaging in deception" |
The
paper builds on two previous papers written by Haselhuhn and Wong.
In
a 2011 paper, "A face only an investor could love: CEOs' facial structure
predicts their firms' financial performance," published in the journal
Psychological Science, they found men with wider faces tend to lead more
financially successful firms.
With
"Bad to the bone: Facial structure predicts unethical behaviour,"
which was co-published with Ormiston in the journal Proceedings of the Royal
Society B in 2012, they found men with wider faces are more likely to lie and
cheat.
These
two papers, plus the just-published paper, show the significance of the
underlying mechanism of power, Wong said.
"People
need to think more carefully about how they use power and how they can use it
in helpful ways," she said.
The
work also shows the importance of appearance when selecting a CEO, especially
as CEOs increasingly become the face of organizations.
"We
don't expect organizations to select their CEO based on the shape of their
face, but first impressions do matter," Wong said.
The
four studies conducted as part of the just-published paper involved between 131
to 207 participants each.
In
the first study, the researchers established a relationship between facial
width-to-height ratio (fWHR) and general self-interest, demonstrating that men
with higher fWHRs behaved more selfishly when dividing resources between
themselves and a partner.
In
two subsequent studies, the researchers examined the same decisions from the
partner's point of view and showed that partners change their own behavior
based on a target's fWHR.
In
the final study, they showed that the partners' behavior, based on the targets'
fWHR, leads the target to act in ways consistent with the partners'
expectations. This shows a link between men's fWHR and behavior, which
otherwise may be attributed to biological factors, but is also a function of
social responses to men's facial structure.
Story Source:
The
above story is based on materials provided byUniversity of California - Riverside.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further
information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal References:
1.
M. P. Haselhuhn, E. M.
Wong. Bad to the bone: facial structure predicts unethical behaviour. Proceedings
of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 2011; 279 (1728): 571
DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2011.1193
2.
E. M. Wong, M. E.
Ormiston, M. P. Haselhuhn. A Face Only an Investor Could Love: CEOs'
Facial Structure Predicts Their Firms' Financial Performance. Psychological
Science, 2011; 22 (12): 1478 DOI:10.1177/0956797611418838
3.
Michael P. Haselhuhn,
Elaine M. Wong, Margaret E. Ormiston.Self-Fulfilling Prophecies as a Link
between Men’s Facial Width-to-Height Ratio and Behavior. PLoS ONE,
2013; 8 (8): e72259 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0072259
Need to cite this story in your essay, paper, or report? Use one
of the following formats:
APA
MLA
MLA
University of California - Riverside (2013, September 16).
Wide-faced men make others act selfishly. ScienceDaily. Retrieved
September 17, 2013, from http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/09/130916140451.htm