Who’s that scowling? Must be a man

TORONTO - When people see a scowl, they think it’s a man; when they see a smile, they think it’s a woman, according to new research.

One study found that faces with lowered eyebrows and tight lips (angry expressions) were more likely to be identified as male. Faces with smiles and raised eyebrows (expressions of happiness and fear) were often labelled feminine.

In another study, male and female faces wore expressions of happiness, anger, sadness, fear or were neutral. Overall, subjects were able to identify male faces more quickly than female faces, and female faces that expressed anger took the longest to identify.

“The present research shows that the association between anger and men and happiness and women is so strong that it can influence the decisions about the gender of another person when that person is viewed briefly,” said Ursula Hess, psychologist, University of Quebec, Montreal.

“This difference in how the emotions and social traits of the two sexes are perceived could have significant implications for social interactions in a number of settings,” said Hess, who led the study.

Hess said that the same cues that make a face appear male — a high forehead, a square jaw and thicker eyebrows — have been linked to perceptions of dominance.

Likewise, features that make a face appear female — a rounded, baby face with large eyes — have been linked to perceptions of the individual being approachable and warm, said a university release.

“Our research demonstrates that it is less likely for men to be perceived as warm and caring and for women to be perceived as dominant,” concluded Hess.

These findings were published in the Journal of Vision.