Facial Dominance

Abstract

Unfortunately, looks matter. Everyone should start life on a level playing field, but they don’t. The egalitarianism embedded in modern social science abhors "built in" disadvantages, whether in social structure or in personal capital. But while explicating the consequences of structural inequalities, social science ignores equally important differences in how we look, in the effects on our fortunes of our faces and physiques. The late sociologist Louis Dotson used to remind his colleagues that "we have bodies," but few heard his message in the epoch after World War II, when the echoes of biological racism were still loud. Today the issue is ripe for attention, if approached with a proper respect for past abuses. We cringe at reviving the term "physiognomy," which carries so much baggage, but we do indeed address here the behavioral importance of people’s faces.