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The researchers found that twisting the chin and lowering the head by only 10 degrees made people more dominant.
The study, published in the journal Psychological Science, shows that facial features are not the only source of this information; we also derive social deductions from the head itself.
"We show that tilting the head downwards systematically changes the way the face is perceived, so that a neutral face, without a face or movement of the muscles or facial expression, seems to be more dominant when the head is tilted towards the bottom, "said researchers Zachary Witkower and Jessica Tracy from the University of British Columbia.
This effect is due to the fact that tilting one's head down gives the artificial appearance of lowered, V-shaped eyebrows, which in turn gives rise to perceptions of aggression, intimidation and domination.
Subtle changes in the head can have profound effects on social perception, in part because they can have significant effects on the appearance of the face, the researchers said.
For the results, the research team designed a series of studies to determine if head positional angle could affect social perception, even when facial features remain neutral.
In an online study with 101 participants, the researchers generated avatar variations with neutral facial expressions and one of three head positions: tilted up 10 degrees, neutral or inclined 10 degrees.
The results showed that participants felt that avatars with head tilt down were more dominant than those with neutral or titled heads up.
A second online study, in which 570 participants evaluated images of real people, showed the same pattern of results.
Other discoveries have revealed that the portion of the face around the eyes and eyebrows is both necessary and sufficient to produce the effect of dominance.
In the end, these results could have practical implications for our daily social interactions, the researchers noted.
Posted on: June 16, 2019 10:54
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