Lack of support for the association between facial shape and aggression: a reappraisal based on a worldwide population genetics perspective

GÓMEZ-VALDÉS JORGE; HÜNEMEIER TABITA; QUINTO-SÁNCHEZ MIRSHA; PASCHETTA, CAROLINA ANDREA; DE AZEVEDO, SOLEDAD; GONZÁLEZ, MARINA FERNANDA; MARTÍNEZ-ABADÍAS, NEUS; ESPARZA, MIREIA; PUCCIARELLI, HÉCTOR; SALZANO, FRANCISCO; BAU, CLAITON; BORTOLINI, MARIA CÁTIRA; GONZÁLEZ-JOSÉ, ROLANDO

PLOS ONE

PUBLIC LIBRARY SCIENCE

Lugar: San Francisco; Año: 2013 vol. 8 p. 1 - 8

1932-6203

Antisocial and criminal behaviours are multifactorial traits whose interpretation relies on multiple disciplines. Since these interpretations may have social, moral and legal implications, a constant review of the evidence is necessary before any scientific claim is considered as truth. A recent study proposed that men with wider faces relative to facial height (WHR) are more likely to develop unethical behaviour mediated by a psychological sense of power. This research was based on reports suggesting that sexual dimorphism and selection would be responsible for a correlation between WHR and aggression. Here we show that 6,243 individuals from 100 modern human populations belonging to a vast array of genetic and cultural contexts do not display significant amounts of WHR sexual dimorphism. Sexual dimorphism was indeed more pronounced in other craniofacial indices, and there was no significant evidence supporting that populations with higher levels of bellicosity, aggressive behaviour, or powermediated behaviour display greater WHR. Finally, a regression analysis of WHR on individual?s fitness measures showed no significant correlation between this facial trait and reproductive success. Our results suggest that facial attributes are poor predictors of behaviour, or, at least, that sexual selection was weak enough to leave a signal on patterns of between and within sex and population facial variation.