Facial dominance in Homo sapiens as honest signaling of male quality

feudal appearance was a consistent and important predictor of rank attainment at the academy and, for those who graduated from staff college, a predictor of high final rank. For men performing below the average, however, dominant facial appearance was a handicap for promotion. High rank came with high fitness. Thus, facial dominance can be an evolutionarily stable honest signal of dominant behavior, a crucial dimension of the potential for high status in a male dominance hierarchy. These findings may also apply to civilian populations. Key words: facial dominance, Homo sapiens, honest mgnaling, rank, reproductive success, status. [Behav Ecol 8:569-579 (1997)] ' I 'he face plays a crucial role in human social cognition JL (Morris et aL, 1996). Among all primates, facial expres-sions are important signals of internal states—emotions and intentions. Humans also see in the face signals of internal qualities that are more stable over time, like attractiveness a