Redness Enhances Perceived Aggression, Dominance and Attractiveness in Men’s Faces

Stephen, ID.; Oldham, FH.; Perrett, DI.; Barton, RA.

Abstract

In a range of non-human primate, bird and fish species, the intensity of red coloration in males is associated with social dominance, testosterone levels and mate selection. In humans too, skin redness is associated with health, but it is not known whether – as in non-human species – it is also associated with dominance and links to attractiveness have not been thoroughly investigated. Here we allow female participants to manipulate the CIELab a* value (red-green axis) of skin to maximize the perceived aggression, dominance and attractiveness of photographs of men’s faces, and make two findings. First, participants increased a* (increasing redness) to enhance each attribute, suggesting that facial redness is perceived as conveying similar information about a male’s qualities in humans as it does in non-human species. Second, there were significant differences between trial types: the highest levels of red were associated with aggression, an intermediate level with dominance, and the least with attractiveness. These differences may reflect a trade-off between the benefits of selecting a healthy, dominant partner and the negative consequences of aggression.

Citation

Stephen, I., Oldham, F., Perrett, D., & Barton, R. (2012). Redness Enhances Perceived Aggression, Dominance and Attractiveness in Men’s Faces. Evolutionary Psychology, 10(3), 562-572

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: Jan 1, 2012
• Deposit Date: Sep 7, 2012
• Publicly Available Date: Feb 18, 2014
• Journal: Evolutionary Psychology
• Electronic ISSN: 1474-7049
• Publisher: SAGE Publications
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 10
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 562-572
• Keywords: Attractiveness, Face, Men, Aggression, Dominance, Perception.
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1474275
• Publisher URL: http://www.epjournal.net/articles/redness-enhances-perceived-aggression-dominance-and-attractiveness-in-mens-faces/