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

Antisocial and criminal behaviors 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 stud...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:PloS one 2013-01, Vol.8 (1), p.e52317-e52317
Main Authors: Gómez-Valdés, Jorge, Hünemeier, Tábita, Quinto-Sánchez, Mirsha, Paschetta, Carolina, de Azevedo, Soledad, González, Marina F, Martínez-Abadías, Neus, Esparza, Mireia, Pucciarelli, Héctor M, Salzano, Francisco M, Bau, Claiton H D, Bortolini, Maria Cátira, González-José, Rolando
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
20th century
Aggression
Aggression - psychology
Aggressive behavior
Aggressiveness
Agressivitat
Analysis
Behavior
Biology
Brain research
Breeding success
Cara
Continental Population Groups - genetics
Correlation
Crime
Crime - ethnology
Crime - psychology
Crime - statistics & numerical data
Dimorphism
Disease susceptibility
Evolution
Face
Face - anatomy & histology
Faults
Female
Fitness
Genetic psychology
Genetics
Genetics, Population
Genètica de poblacions humanes
Genètica humana
Homes
Homicide
Human genetics
Human population genetics
Human populations
Humans
Male
Males
Men
Mexico
Morality
Morfologia (Biologia)
Morphology (Biology)
Multivariate analysis
Museums
Natural selection
Personal appearance
Population genetics
Populations
Prisoners
Psicologia genètica
Regression Analysis
Reproduction
Reproductive fitness
Selecció natural
Sex Factors
Sexual dimorphism
Sexual selection
Social and Behavioral Sciences
Social behavior
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Summary:Antisocial and criminal behaviors 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 (fWHR) 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 fWHR and aggression. Here we show that 4,960 individuals from 94 modern human populations belonging to a vast array of genetic and cultural contexts do not display significant amounts of fWHR sexual dimorphism. Further analyses using populations with associated ethnographical records as well as samples of male prisoners of the Mexico City Federal Penitentiary condemned by crimes of variable level of inter-personal aggression (homicide, robbery, and minor faults) did not show significant evidence, suggesting that populations/individuals with higher levels of bellicosity, aggressive behaviour, or power-mediated behaviour display greater fWHR. Finally, a regression analysis of fWHR on individual's fitness showed no significant correlation between this facial trait and reproductive success. Overall, our results suggest that facial attributes are poor predictors of aggressive 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.
ISSN:1932-6203
1932-6203
DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0052317