A new study by psychologists at St. Andrews University (Scotland) reveals that we tend to associate certain forms of the male face with honesty. To demonstrate this, the scientists conducted a series of experiments in which several male subjects had to gamble for money. Players were allowed to be honest with their opponents or to take advantage of them and deceive them . Before each game they were shown an expressionless photo of their opponent’s face. Thus, Michael Stirrat found that subjects were more likely to trust opponents with a narrower face . ? We make instant judgments about strangers , for example to decide if we are honest with them or cautious. And we believe we have found the basis for this intuitive behavior ?, explains Stirrat.
Based on the evolutionary theory of sexual selection , the researchers deduced that male faces can show signs of greater or lesser physical dominance, and that? The more dominant a man seems, the more prone we judge that he will be to take advantage of the trust of others to get rich ?. Following this reasoning, it is understandable that we are more distrustful of them. “The results are interesting, but they should not lead us to the conclusion that men with wide faces are bad, only that specifically in our games they were a little ‘taken advantage of'”, says Stirrat, adding that the investigation must continue to advance before draw general conclusions.
