| Abstract: | Conducted 5 studies on relative facial prominence in depictions of men and women. This hypothesized sex difference may be theoretically important because visual representations presumably contribute to generic conceptions of what is unique about each of the sexes. Three studies assessed the prevalence of "face-ism"—greater facial prominence in depictions of men—in 3 contexts: in American periodicals (1,750 published photographs in 5 magazines and newspapers were analyzed), in publications from 11 cultures (3,500 photographs and pictures were coded), and in artwork over 6 centuries (920 portraits and self-portraits were scored). A 4th study found experimental evidence that this difference also occurs in amateur drawings of men and women; Ss were 40 male and 40 female undergraduates. A final study varied facial prominence experimentally in photographs and found consequent changes in rated intelligence and other characteristics; Ss were 60 university students. Implications for sex differences, particularly for the perceived intellectual qualities of women, are discussed. (9 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved) |
