Dataset Information

Facial width-to-height ratio is associated with agonistic and affiliative dominance in bonobos (Pan paniscus).

ABSTRACT: Facial width-to-height ratio (fWHR) is associated with social dominance in human and non-human primates, which may reflect the effects of testosterone on facial morphology and behaviour. Given that testosterone facilitates status-seeking motivation, the association between fWHR and behaviour should be contingent on the relative costs and benefits of particular dominance strategies across species and socioecological contexts. We tested this hypothesis in bonobos (Pan paniscus), who exhibit female dominance and rely on both affiliation and aggression to achieve status. We measured fWHR from facial photographs, affiliative dominance with Assertiveness personality scores and agonistic dominance with behavioural data. Consistent with our hypothesis, agonistic and affiliative dominance predicted fWHR in both sexes independent of age and body weight, supporting the role of status-seeking motivation in producing the link between fWHR and socioecologically relevant dominance behaviour across primates.

SUBMITTER: Martin JS

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6731484 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Facial width-to-height ratio is associated with agonistic and affiliative dominance in bonobos (Pan paniscus).

Martin J S JS Staes N N Weiss A A Stevens J M G JMG Jaeggi A V AV

Biology letters 20190828 8

Facial width-to-height ratio (fWHR) is associated with social dominance in human and non-human primates, which may reflect the effects of testosterone on facial morphology and behaviour. Given that testosterone facilitates status-seeking motivation, the association between fWHR and behaviour should be contingent on the relative costs and benefits of particular dominance strategies across species and socioecological contexts. We tested this hypothesis in bonobos (Pan paniscus), who exhibit female ...[more]

PMID: 31455170

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Project description:Background. In recent years, researchers have investigated the relationship between facial width-to-height ratio (FWHR) and a variety of threat and dominance behaviours. The majority of methods involved measuring FWHR from 2D photographs of faces. However, individuals can vary dramatically in their appearance across images, which poses an obvious problem for reliable FWHR measurement. Methods. I compared the effect sizes due to the differences between images taken with unconstrained camera parameters (Studies 1 and 2) or varied facial expressions (Study 3) to the effect size due to identity, i.e., the differences between people. In Study 1, images of Hollywood actors were collected from film screenshots, providing the least amount of experimental control. In Study 2, controlled photographs, which only varied in focal length and distance to camera, were analysed. In Study 3, images of different facial expressions, taken in controlled conditions, were measured. Results. Analyses revealed that simply varying the focal length and distance between the camera and face had a relatively small effect on FWHR, and therefore may prove less of a problem if uncontrolled in study designs. In contrast, when all camera parameters (including the camera itself) are allowed to vary, the effect size due to identity was greater than the effect of image selection, but the ranking of the identities was significantly altered by the particular image used. Finally, I found significant changes to FWHR when people posed with four of seven emotional expressions in comparison with neutral, and the effect size due to expression was larger than differences due to identity. Discussion. The results of these three studies demonstrate that even when head pose is limited to forward facing, changes to the camera parameters and a person's facial expression have sizable effects on FWHR measurement. Therefore, analysing images that fail to constrain some of these variables can lead to noisy and unreliable results, but also relationships caused by previously unconsidered confounds.

Dataset Information

Facial width-to-height ratio is associated with agonistic and affiliative dominance in bonobos (Pan paniscus).

Publications

Facial width-to-height ratio is associated with agonistic and affiliative dominance in bonobos (Pan paniscus).

Similar Datasets

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