Abstract
Accurate assessment of competitive ability is a critical component of contest behaviour in animals, and could be just as important in human competition, particularly in our evolutionary past. Here we tested whether facial perception could play a part in this assessment, by investigating the association between perceived aggressiveness in fighters' faces and their fighting success.
We used 146 photos of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) Caucasian fighters' faces and their fighting success. The standardized photos were rated for perceived aggressiveness in an online survey by 618 raters.
Perceived aggressiveness was positively associated with the proportion of fights won, after controlling for the effect of weight which also independently predicted perceived aggression. Shape regressions revealed that aggressive-looking faces are generally wider and have a broader chin, more prominent eye-brows and a larger nose than less aggressive looking faces.
Our results indicate that success in male-male physical confrontation is predicted by perceived aggressiveness. Perceived aggressiveness was associated with masculine appearance and so the link between face shape and fighting success is perhaps due to the action of testosterone associated with masculine facial appearance.