Further Evidence that Facial Width-to-Height Ratio and Global Facial Masculinity Are Not Positively Associated with Testosterone Levels

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Facial masculinity, as for example measured by the facial width-to-height ratio (fWHR) or the global facial masculinity index, has been associated with a vast range of behavioural traits, including dominance and aggression. Further, facial masculinity is thought to be influenced by testosterone (T) levels as an underlying mechanism. However, a recent meta-analysis on fWHR and T levels provided non-significant associations in men, which we wanted to examine further in men and additionally in women. We examined whether fWHR and global facial masculinity are positively associated with salivary baseline T and T reactivity in 140 men (age 18–34 years), as well as with salivary baseline T and hair T concentrations in 151 women (age 18–35 years). No associations of salivary baseline T, T reactivity or hair T levels with fWHR or global facial masculinity were observed. Additional analyses revealed sex differences in sexual dimorphism in fWHR and global facial masculinity: men had generally higher global facial masculinity compared to women, but unexpectedly a lower fWHR. Overall, our results provide further evidence that neither fWHR nor global facial masculinity are related to T levels and question earlier findings on male-biased sexual dimorphism in fWHR.