Male Faces Research Articles

Facial dominance overrides gender in children’s stereotypes about intelligence

Stereotypes are not only pervasive, they can also lead to discrimination against negatively-stereotyped groups. A gender-intelligence stereotype holds that men and boys are smarter than women and girls, despite no such evidence. Developmental research suggests that even children endorse this stereotype, and negative perceptions about self-worth in girls may be a consequence. Here we tested whether the stereotype about intelligence may, instead, be rooted in facial dominance, such that faces higher in dominance are considered smarter than faces lower in dominance. Across two studies, we found that 6- to 10-year-olds used facial dominance to make intelligence judgments (Experiment 1), even under divided attention (Experiment 2). Children judged more dominant faces as smarter than less dominant faces, whether the two faces were male or female. They did not, however, judge men as smarter than women when selecting between male and female faces that were matched in dominance. What is more, there was some evidence that children considered dominant female faces to be smarter than less dominant male faces, suggesting that dominance in faces may be prioritized over face gender when intuiting intelligence. These findings contrasted with children’s judgments of niceness where both dominance, and a gender stereotype, were used to infer prosociality. Altogether, our findings provide novel evidence for an association between dominance and intelligence, which appears to predate a gender-intelligence stereotype.

Gaze Patterns During Evaluation of Facial Attractiveness: An Eye‐Tracking Investigation

BackgroundObjective, controlled eye‐tracking measurement of gaze patterns during layperson evaluation of facial attractiveness is currently lacking.ObjectivesTo objectively investigate (1) where on the face laypeople direct their attention when assessing attractiveness compared with a control group, and (2) whether increased fixation on certain facial regions is associated with high attractiveness ratings.MethodsLay observers viewed a cohort of 40 faces with a diverse age, sex, and racial distribution. Observers were either allowed to free‐gaze without a specific task or rate facial attractiveness for 10 seconds per face while their gaze was recorded by an eye‐tracking system.ResultsForty‐seven observers assessed facial attractiveness (mean age 35.1 years (range 21–76), 62% female) and 57 observers free‐gazed at the facial photos without a specific task (mean age 35.5 years (range 22–66), 54% female). Preliminary analysis showed that sex of both the face and observer substantially influence gaze‐attractiveness associations (p < 0.05). Mixed effects analysis suggests that when males assessed female facial attractiveness, increased fixation time at the mouth correlated most strongly with high attractiveness (p = 0.001), whereas when females assessed male faces, increased fixation at the eyes (p < 0.001) and hair (p = 0.002) were most strongly associated with high ratings of attractiveness.ConclusionsIncreased gaze at the mouth in females and eyes and hair in males is associated with significantly higher ratings of attractiveness by observers of the opposite sex. Practitioners may want to pay special attention to these areas when designing an evidence‐based aesthetic treatment plan.Level of EvidenceNA Laryngoscope, 2024

Exposure to novel females increases fecundity in adult male prairie voles.

Social circuitry of the mammalian brain can influence male reproductive physiology. This often manifests as plasticity in sperm production or allocation, particularly in response to male-male competition. However, socially mediated testicular plasticity has not been investigated with respect to mating and parental strategy. Testis mass and sperm production of sexually naïve and female-exposed adult male individuals of three rodent species were compared: the socially monogamous and paternal prairie vole (Microtus ochrogaster), the promiscuous and non-paternal meadow vole (Microtus pennsylvanicus), and the promiscuous and non-paternal house mouse (Mus musculus). Monogamously paired prairie vole males exhibited significantly larger testes and greater sperm production than naïve prairie vole males. Comparatively, there were no significant differences between naïve and monogamously paired male meadow voles or mice. To investigate the role of olfactory cues for regulating this phenomenon in prairie voles, a group of naïve males exposed to soiled bedding from novel females was used. These males were more similar to paired males than to naïve males not exposed to novel female odors, demonstrating a strong role of the social olfactory system. Further, while the predictions of sperm competition theory (species with greater female promiscuity have larger testes than closely related species with less female promiscuity) are consistent between naïve meadow voles and prairie voles, the prediction does not hold for monogamously paired prairie voles and meadow voles. This demonstrates the complexity of internal social dynamics and reproductive pressures which socially monogamous paternal males face and the evolutionary adaptions that may develop in response.

Social Perception of Male Faces. Individuals, Clusters, Dimensions

In an online experiment in a German and an English version, portrait photographs of 59 men from the age range late 20s to late 50s served as stimulus material. 1618 participants each rated a randomly selected photo on 36 personality-descriptive rating scales and estimated the age, body height and weight. In supplementary assessments, the degree of smile, degree of hair loss, hair color, facial hair, glasses, formal dress, head rotation, head tilt and brightness of the image background were determined. All variables show sufficient, mostly high to very high reliability. The data analysis was carried out at the level of the stimulus persons, on the one hand from a dimensional and on the other hand from a typological perspective. A principal component analysis of the personality-descriptive traits yielded a five-dimensional space with orthogonal factors. These can be interpreted straightforwardly as Social Agreeableness, Attractiveness, Masculinity, Status/Intelligence and Negative Affects. Using multiple regression, the age estimates and the degree of smiling can be fitted into the psychological space in an excellent way. Wearing glasses and height estimates can also be localized well in this space. In addition to the customary dimensional approach, a typological approach was adopted, which is rarely found in this field of research. In a hierarchical cluster analysis of the five personality dimensions and the external characteristics, groups of stimulus persons were identified who are similar to each other in a bundle of characteristics and who differ markedly from other groups. These clusters were mapped into the five-dimensional face perception space. In this way, it is demonstrated that not only does each approach provide interesting insights in its own right, but that both approaches mutually enrich each other by combining them. A main emphasis of this paper is the comparison with the two-dimensional Valence-Dominance model, which has been the most influential paradigm for more than a decade. It is not disputed that evaluation on the Badness – Goodness dimension is of paramount importance, nor is the importance of Dominance or Power called into question. Nevertheless, it is shown that a two-dimensional model cannot do justice to the complexity of face perception. Face perception is much more differentiated and – this is the crucial point – it largely coincides with the personality structure known from differential psychology, which is based on self-assessments and assessments of acquaintances.

The Impact of Intimate Partner Violence on Gay Men’s Personal and Working Lives

ABSTRACT Research into intimate partner violence (IPV) has focused on the experience of female victims resulting from dominant theoretical frameworks and societal biases casting females as victims and males as abusers. While emergent studies suggest that gay male victims experience a higher prevalence rate and more severe consequences from IPV than heterosexuals victims (male or female), few studies have explored the impact of IPV on gay male victims personal and working lives. We conducted a qualitative case study analysis using an Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis by interviewing four gay males with experience of IPV. Following a description of each case, a cross-case analysis identified the similarities and differences between the participants’ lived experiences according to four main themes: 1) formal support, 2) informal support, 3) workplace support, and 4) workplace performance. We found that the influence of minority stress may amplify the challenges that some gay male victims face when conceptualizing their abuse and seeking support in their personal and working lives. Organizations should develop targeted and inclusive policies that support victims, with LGBTQI±competent Employee Assistance Program (EAP) providers, and gender-neutral language when referring to IPV.

Misperception of the facial appearance that the opposite-sex desires.

Thin and muscular have been characterised as body shape ideals for women and men, respectively, yet each sex misperceives what the other sex desires; women exaggerate the thinness that men like and men exaggerate the muscularity that women like. Body shape ideals align with stereotypic perceptions of femininity in women and masculinity in men. The present study investigates whether misperception of opposite-sex desires extends to femininity/masculinity in facial morphology. We used interactive 3D head models to represent faces varying in sexual dimorphism. White European heterosexual men and women were asked to choose their own and ideal face shape, the ideal shape of a short- and a long-term partner, and the face shape they thought the opposite sex would most like for a short- and a long-term partner. Women overestimated the facial femininity that men prefer in a partner and men overestimated the facial masculinity that women prefer in a partner. The discrepancy between own and ideal sexual dimorphism (an index of appearance dissatisfaction) covaried with by the misperception of what the opposite-sex desires. These results indicate misperception of opposite-sex facial preferences and that mistaken perceptions may contribute to dissatisfaction with own appearance.

Are Boards Sensitive to CEO Masculinity? The Effect of CEO Facial and Vocal Masculinity on CEO Dismissal

AbstractDrawing on evolutionary psychology theorizing, this paper examines how chief executive officer (CEO) facial and vocal masculinity – as evolved biases shaping peoples' perceptions of an individual's leadership ability – influence boards' dismissal decisions. Specifically, we theorize that boards are likely to perceive CEO facial and vocal masculinity as costly to the firm, as they signal aggression, dominance, and risk‐taking – traits that are only valued in the narrow context of conflict. Based on this reasoning, we argue that CEO facial and vocal masculinity will be positively related to CEO dismissal. Further, we develop contingency arguments which suggest that CEO facial and vocal masculinity will interact with analysts' evaluation of firm performance to jointly influence CEO dismissal. We test and find support for our predictions using a panel dataset of CEOs from S&P 1500 firms.

Explicit and Implicit Preference for Symmetry Across Object Categories

Symmetry affects aesthetic judgements, and it has been extensively studied at least for faces and abstract objects. We examined the role of bilateral symmetry on aesthetic judgements across different types of stimuli. It is important to test if symmetry is equally effective in the context of objects expected to be symmetrical, e.g., faces, and objects that are almost never symmetrical, e.g., landscapes. We used the following categories: angular shapes, smooth shapes, landscapes, flowers, female faces, and male faces. We selected these image categories considering their differing degrees of curvature, familiarity to the viewer, and tendency to be perceived as ensembles, as opposed to standalone objects. We also included blobs, manipulating landscapes into blurry tessellated patterns featuring patches of color, to remove familiarity while preserving the appearance of ensembles. For each item in these categories, images were modified to obtain perfect bilateral symmetry. We collected both explicit ratings and implicit measures of symmetry preference. For landscapes, there was a clear preference for the non-symmetrical (original) version. We observed a dissociation between explicit and implicit measures. Implicit measures demonstrated positive associations for all categories.

Are masculine faces “natural” for all men?: an experimental study about predictors of Chinese young adults’ attitudes towards trans men

ABSTRACT Researchers have increasingly paid attention to prejudice against trans people and its predictors. However, few studies have explored if potential predictors may interact to affect people’s attitudes towards trans people. In this experimental study, we examined the impacts of participant-related factors (i.e. gender and prior contact experience with gender or sexual minorities), target-related variables (i.e. gender identity and facial appearance), and their interactions on Chinese young adults’ attitudes towards trans men. We recruited 172 Chinese young adults to rate images of men with different gender identity labels (i.e. cisgender or trans men) and facial appearances (i.e. feminine or masculine). Results showed that a three-way interaction existed among targets’ gender identity labels, targets’ facial appearances, and participants’ genders. Overall, female participants were less likely than men to show more negative attitudes towards trans men than cisgender men. Participants showed more positive attitudes towards masculine-appearing trans men than feminine trans men. The current findings implied that people favoured trans men’s masculine faces, which match the roles of their gender identities.

Experimental Manipulation of the Bilateral Posterior Parietal Cortex Strengthens Associative Memory in Healthy Participants: A Continuous Theta-burst Stimulation.

To test whether targeting left and right posterior parietal cortex (PPC) with continuous theta-burst stimulation (cTBS) in healthy adults would strengthen associative memory (AM) performance. This study consisted of two experiments (a behavioral experiment and a formal experiment during each of the two experimental sessions). In Experiment 1, 18 adults (one male, age = 22.83 ± 3.92 years) were included in the behavioral phase and 18 adults (seven males, age = 40.11 ± 12.27 years) in the stimulation phase. There were 120 neutral facial images paired with 120 two-character nouns and then divided into six test versions (10 male faces and 10 female faces paired with 20 different nouns were considered as one version). In the behavioral experiment, participants were tested by six-version tests to assess memory materials, and in the formal experiment, participants' face-word AM performance was measured by certified tests based on a cued recall paradigm. Furthermore, 30 adults (seven males, age = 20.97 ± 1.85 years) and 15 adults (five males, age = 22.27 ± 1.29 years) participated in Experiment 2, respectively. Stimuli and procedure were the same as in Experiment 1, but the AM test was based on a forced-choice paradigm. Experiment 1 did not yield anticipated outcomes; Experiment 2 showed that cTBS of left and right PPC strengthened the AM performance compared with the control condition. In conclusion, cTBS to left and right PPC improved AM in healthy adults, which provided further experimental evidence for strengthening AM by cTBS.

Challenges library and information science (LIS) postgraduate students encounter in research topic selection

This study examines research topic selection among LIS postgraduate students in Tanzania. A quantitative approach was used to collect the data, and purposive sampling was used to recruit a total of 105 respondents. Key findings showed that research topic selection is influenced by how extensively the topic has been researched, postgraduates’ personal interests and whether the topic has been previously researched by a student. Insufficient research knowledge, little global LIS research exposure and insufficient supervisory leading roles affect research topic selection. Findings showed male and doctorate postgraduate students face more challenges in LIS research topic selection. The study concludes that LIS postgraduates’ research topic selection is challenging due to insufficient research methodology training and foundations. The study suggests research methodology training for supervisors and students, revising LIS curricula and appropriate research guidance to LIS postgraduates would be important in addressing the challenges found. The study also recommends the establishment of an LIS national repository centre with research content accessible to all students.

Investigating Potential Interactive Effects Between Limbal Rings and Facial Attractiveness

Limbal rings are dark bands in the eyes that circle the iris. Previous research suggests that the presence of limbal rings augments perceptions of male faces as healthy and attractive, particularly among female perceivers. Nonetheless, a degree of heterogeneity exists in attractiveness effects across different stimulus sets. One possibility of this discrepancy could be previously undetected differences in attractiveness across different social targets that impede a clearer understanding for the signal value of limbal rings. Namely, it could be possible that the attractiveness advantage of faces with limbal rings is most apparent among highly attractive stimuli. This study sought to reconcile this discrepancy by developing a novel stimulus set that systematically varies the attractiveness of social targets in addition to the presence of limbal rings in male faces. Women evaluated these targets based on perceptions of their health and attractiveness. Although limbal rings continued to augment perceptions of health in male faces, no differences emerged in the attractiveness of faces with and without limbal rings.

The face pareidolia illusion drives a happy face advantage that is dependent on perceived gender.

The happy face advantage, the faster recognition of happy than of negative, angry or fearful, emotional expressions, has been reliably found and is modulated by social category cues, such as perceived gender, that is, is larger on female than on male faces. In this study, we tested whether this pattern of results is unique to human faces by investigating whether ambient examples of face pareidolia can also evoke a happy face advantage that is dependent on perceived gender. "Face pareidolia" describes the illusion of facial structure on inanimate objects, such as a tree trunk or a piece of burnt toast. While it has been shown that these illusory faces have expressions that can be recognized by participants, it is unknown whether they drive the same behavioral biases as real facial expressions. Thus, we measured the speed and accuracy with which the expressions of illusory faces that are perceived as female or male are recognized as happy or angry. We found a robust happy face advantage for illusory faces that were rated as more feminine in appearance. Concomitantly, we also found a robust angry face advantage for illusory faces that were rated as more masculine in appearance. Taken together, these findings demonstrate that illusory faces confer the same behavioral advantages as human faces. They also suggest that both perceived emotion and perceived gender are powerful socioevaluative dimensions that are extracted from visual stimuli that merely resemble human faces. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Emotional scenes as context in emotional expression recognition: The role of emotion or valence match.

Emotion recognition is influenced by contextual information such as social category cues or background scenes. However, past studies yielded mixed findings regarding whether broad valence or specific emotion matches drive context effects and how multiple sources of contextual information may influence emotion recognition. To address these questions, participants were asked to categorize expressions on male and female faces posing happiness and anger and happiness and fear on pleasant and fearful backgrounds (Experiment 1, conducted in 2019), fearful and disgusted expressions on fear and disgust eliciting backgrounds (Experiment 2, conducted in 2022), and fearful and sad expressions on fear and sadness eliciting backgrounds (Experiment 3, conducted in 2022). In Experiment 1 (where stimuli varied in valence), a broad valence match effect was observed. Faster recognition of happiness than fear and anger was more pronounced in pleasant compared to fearful scenes. In Experiments 2 and 3 (where stimuli were negative in valence), specific emotion match effects were observed. Faster recognition occurred when expression and background were emotionally congruent. In Experiments 1 and 3, poser sex independently moderated emotional expression recognition speed. These results suggest that the effect of emotional scenes on facial emotion recognition is mediated by a match in valence when broad valence is task-relevant. Specific emotion matches drive context effects when participants categorize expressions of a single valence. Looking at the influence of background contexts and poser sex together suggests that these two sources of contextual information have an independent rather than an interactive influence on emotional expression recognition speed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

The Mediating Role of School Adaptation in the Impact of Adolescent Victimization from Bullying on Mental Health: A Gender Differences Perspective.

The primary aim of this study is to investigate the mediating role of school adaptation in the impact of adolescent bullying victimization on mental health, as well as the gender differences therein. These findings offer a novel perspective for parents and educators, aiding bullied adolescents in managing and addressing mental health concerns. The primary data source for this study was the 2020/2021 Adolescent Health Theme Database from the China Population Health Data Center (PHDA). The research sample consisted of high school students from 16 cities in Shandong Province. Descriptive statistics, reliability and validity testing, structural equation modeling, as well as mediation analysis and multiple group analysis were conducted using SPSS 26.0 and AMOS 26.0. School adaptation serves as a mediating variable between adolescent bullying and mental health. The model fit indices are as follows: GFI=0.946, AGFI=0.922, RMSEA=0.070, NFI=0.978, IFI=0.979, CFI=0.97. Even when considering gender, the model still demonstrates good fit. School bullying has significant negative effects on the mental health of both male and female victims (p<0.05). For female victims, the mitigating effect of school adaptation on mental health is slightly lower than that for males (-2.256). Regarding cyberbullying, male victims face a greater threat to mental health (-3.234), with a impact of -0.109 from cyberbullying on male mental health and -0.065 from school bullying on female mental health. The school is found to mediate between school bullying, cyberbullying, and mental health. Schools may play a greater role in improving female mental health than male mental health. The impact of campus bullying on female mental health is greater than that of cyberbullying, whereas the opposite is true for males. Enhancing adolescents' school adaptation levels helps mitigate the adverse effects of school and cyberbullying on adolescent mental health.

Silent Struggles: Exploring the Effects of Anxiety and Depression on Higher Level Students

The purpose of the current study was to explore the effects of anxiety and depression on higher level students. The research was descriptive in nature, and to achieve the objectives of the study, a sample of three thousand four hundred and eighty higher level students was selected using stratified sampling technique. The data analysis statistics included both descriptive and inferential analysis. The findings reveal that anxiety and depression have a significant effect on university students, leading to poor academic performance. Moreover, males face higher levels of anxiety and depression as compared to females. This study recommends that teachers and parents should try to identify or understand if their child is going through any sort of mental discord. Teachers should act as role models for students to promote the importance of a content and calm mind and explain to them the importance of mental health.

Monkeys Predict US Elections.

How people vote often defies rational explanation. Physical traits sometimes sway voters more than policies do-but why? Here we show that rhesus macaques, who have no knowledge about political candidates or their policies, implicitly predict the outcomes of U.S. gubernatorial and senatorial elections based solely on visual features. Given a pair of candidate photos, monkeys spent more time looking at the loser than the winner, and this gaze bias predicted not only binary election outcomes but also the candidates' vote share. Analysis of facial features revealed candidates with more masculine faces were more likely to win an election, and vote share was a linear function of jaw prominence. Our findings endorse the idea that voters spontaneously respond to evolutionarily conserved visual cues to physical prowess and that voting behavior is shaped, in part, by ancestral adaptations shared with nonhuman primates.

Gender-related stigma toward individuals with a history of sexual or physical violence in childhood

BackgroundStigma is a key barrier to disclosing traumatic experiences of violence in childhood with adverse consequences for help-seeking behaviour. Disclosing behavior differs by gender and the form of violence experienced. However, there is a lack of comprehensive studies that address societal perceptions of males and females with a history of sexual or physical violence in childhood. Therefore, our aim is to focus on the impact of gender on the perception of individuals who experienced sexual or physical violence in childhood.MethodsWe conducted a study on a representative sample of the German general population in terms of age and gender. Participants were randomly assigned to brief case vignettes addressing sexual or physical violence in childhood. Analyses base on a sample of n = 659 individuals (50.1% female). Stigma was assessed through examining respondents’ readiness to address specific traumas in conversation and respondents’ attitudes toward the individuals in the vignettes. Mann–Whitney U tests were applied to check for differences between female and male victims and survivors as well as female and male respondents.ResultsOur results reveal that male victims and survivors face higher negative stereotypes (harm, unpredictability) and evoke communication barriers more often when compared to female victims and survivors, especially in male respondents. Sexual violence is associated with more distinct gender differences than physical violence.ConclusionsFindings reflect greater stigma toward male victims and survivors of sexual violence than female ones. Men had a greater tendency to stigmatize – especially toward their same-gender peers. Socially ingrained gender roles may act as a basis for different communication cultures and the notion of victim-perpetrator constellations in which males are not envisaged as victims.

Is emotion perception altered by gaze direction, gender appearance, and gender identity of the perceived face?

The purpose of the present study was to examine how gaze and emotion processing may change due to differences in gender appearance and gender identity of the perceived face. We manipulated gender appearance (male or female), gender identity (cisgender or transgender), gaze direction (direct or averted), and expressed emotions (anger, fear, or neutral) of face models in an emotion rating task. We replicate several previous findings, including a direct gaze advantage, an emotion effect, and an interaction between gaze direction and expressed emotion. In line with previous findings on the influence of facial morphology for face processing, we found that male faces were more quickly and intensely perceived for displays of anger, while female faces were more quickly and intensely perceived for displays of fear. Of key interest, gender identity influenced face perception for different emotion expressions and gaze directions for ratings and reaction times in a variety of ways. For example, transgender male faces were seen as angrier and less fearful than cisgender male faces, while the opposite effect occurred for female faces. These results suggest that face perception is systematically shaped by morphological differences as well as more abstract social constructs related to gender identity. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Natural History, Phenotype Spectrum and Clinical Outcomes of Desmin (DES)-Associated Cardiomyopathy.

Pathogenic/likely pathogenic (P/LP) desmin (DES) variants cause heterogeneous cardiomyopathy and/or skeletal myopathy phenotypes. Limited data suggest a high incidence of major adverse cardiac events (MACE), including cardiac conduction disease (CCD), sustained ventricular arrhythmias (VA), and heart failure (HF) events (HF hospitalization, LVAD/cardiac transplant, HF-related death), in patients with P/LP DES variants. However, pleiotropic presentation and small cohort sizes have limited clinical phenotype and outcome characterization. We aimed to describe the natural history, phenotype spectrum, familial penetrance and outcomes in patients with P/LP DES variants through a systematic review and individual patient data meta-analysis using published reports. We searched Medline (PubMed) and Embase for studies that evaluated cardiac phenotypes in patients with P/LP DES variants. Cardiomyopathy diagnosis or occurrence of MACE were considered evidence of cardiac involvement/penetrance. Lifetime event-free survival from CCD, sustained VA, HF events, and composite MACE was assessed. Out of 4,212 screened publications, 71 met the inclusion criteria. A total of 230 patients were included (52.6% male, 52.2% probands, median age: 31 years [22.0; 42.8] at first evaluation, median follow-up: 3 years [0; 11.0]). Overall, 124 (53.9%) patients were diagnosed with cardiomyopathy, predominantly dilated cardiomyopathy (14.8%), followed by restrictive cardiomyopathy (13.5%), whereas other forms were less common: arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy (7.0%), hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (6.1%), arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (5.2%), and other forms (7.4%). Overall, 132 (57.4%) patients developed MACE, with 96 [41.7%] having CCD, 36 [15.7%] sustained VA, and 43 [18.7%] HF events. Familial penetrance of cardiac disease was 63.6% among relatives with P/LP DES variants. Male sex was associated with increased risk of sustained VA (HR 2.28, p=0.02) and HF events (HR 2.45, p=0.008). DES cardiomyopathy exhibits heterogeneous phenotypes and distinct natural history, characterized by high familial penetrance and substantial MACE burden. Male patients face higher risk of sustained VA events.