Facial width-to-height ratio in a Turkish population is not sexually dimorphic and is unrelated to aggressive behavior

Abstract

Recently, Weston et al. (2004; Wide faces or large canines? The attractive versus the aggressive primate. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, Series B, 271, 416-419) found that facial width-to-height ratio (WHR) is a sexually dimorphic characteristic in humans; males have higher facial WHR than females. Following this study, Carre et al. (2008; In your face: facial metrics predict aggressive behavior in the laboratory and in varsity and professional hockey players. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, Series B, 275, 2651-2656) found that individual differences in facial WHR accounted for a significant proportion of the variance in aggressive behavior of men, but not women. I tested these two hypotheses in a sample of 470 Turkish university students. Facial WHR was measured from frontal photographs. I also measured the aggressiveness level of 212 individuals using the Buss and Perry aggressiveness questionnaire. The mean facial WHR (and standard deviation) was 1.89 +/- 0.12 for males and 1.91 +/- 0.11 for females. There was no relationship between facial WHR and the self-reported aggressive behavior for either sex. The facial WHR is not a sexually dimorphic characteristic (at least) for Turkish people, and it does not appear to be associated with self-reported trait aggression. (C) 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.