“Face of a Fighter” – Dr Samuele Zilioli et al.

along with … indirect (and sometimes imprecise) signals of formidability, evidence suggests that the humans possess neurocognitive adaptations specifically evolved for assessing opponents’ fighting ability.

– Zilioli et al. (322)

In this article by Dr Samuele Zilioli et al. and colleagues (including York St John’s Dr Michael Stirrat) use three studies to test the hypothesis that bizygomatic width (i.e. facial width‐to‐height ratio) covaries with actual physical formidability and that humans use this cue when making assessments of formidability.

we used an experimental design to show that controlled modifications of a man’s facial width‐to‐height ratio caused the face to appear more formidable

– Zilioli et al. (328)

“Face of a Fighter” can be downloaded via York St John Institutional access here.