Psychologists
these days are heavily into measuring ratios of bits and pieces of our bodies.
The digit ratios of our fingers are taken as a surefire guide to our success in
life’s struggle to be the best. The latest ratio to come back to the surface is
face ratios.
Never
heard of it? It is the distance between your ears divided by the distance
between your mouth and your eyes. Unlike your digit ratio, this is not being
used as a surrogate for the testosterone level that you had to deal with while
in utero. Your face ratio is a measure of how other people view your character.
A high
face ratio and you will be seen as masculine. Low and it will be feminine.
Geniole et al in this weeks Public
Library of Science have asked a 100 people to glance at people pictures and
rate them in terms of masculinity, femininity, aggressiveness, and nurturing
nature (1).
Broad
faces were (as previously) rated as more masculine and also as more potentially
aggressive. This was true if the faces were male or female. Although the
viewers were a mix of men and women, the more feminine the faces (low ratio),
the higher they were rated on an attractiveness scale, regardless of whether
they were of males or females.
Low ratio
faces had the exclusive for a nurturing look. That is males with low face
ratios have a higher paternal investment potential.
Can we
soon expect to find a tape measure in every women’s bag when she is on a night
out so she can quickly confirm whether he is the macho-man that will love her and
leave her or if the impression that he has a high paternal investment potential
isn’t clouded by alcohol?
