Journal article
Sexual Selection, Agonistic Signaling, and the Effect of Beards on Recognition of Men's Anger Displays
Psychological Science, Vol.30(5), pp.728-738
2019
PMID: 30908116
Abstract
The beard is arguably one of the most obvious signals of masculinity in humans. Almost 150 years ago, Darwin suggested that beards evolved to communicate formidability to other males, but no studies have investigated whether beards enhance recognition of threatening expressions, such as anger. We found that the presence of a beard increased the speed and accuracy with which participants recognized displays of anger but not happiness (Experiment 1, N = 219). This effect was not due to negative evaluations shared by beardedness and anger or to negative stereotypes associated with beardedness, as beards did not facilitate recognition of another negative expression, sadness (Experiment 2, N = 90), and beards increased the rated prosociality of happy faces in addition to the rated masculinity and aggressiveness of angry faces (Experiment 3, N = 445). A computer-based emotion classifier reproduced the influence of beards on emotion recognition (Experiment 4). The results suggest that beards may alter perceived facial structure, facilitating rapid judgments of anger in ways that conform to evolutionary theory.
Details
- Title
- Sexual Selection, Agonistic Signaling, and the Effect of Beards on Recognition of Men's Anger Displays
- Authors
- Belinda M Craig (Author) - Curtin UniversityNicole L Nelson (Author) - University of QueenslandBarnaby J W Dixson (Author) - University of Queensland
- Publication details
- Psychological Science, Vol.30(5), pp.728-738
- Publisher
- Sage Publications, Inc.
- DOI
- 10.1177/0956797619834876
- ISSN
- 1467-9280
- PMID
- 30908116
- Organisation Unit
- School of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Legacy; University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland; Australian Centre for Pacific Islands Research; School of Health - Psychology
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 99629740102621
- Output Type
- Journal article
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- Collaboration types
- Domestic collaboration
- Web Of Science research areas
- Psychology, Multidisciplinary
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Source: InCites