Head Tilt and Perceptions of Dominance: A Facial Expression Imposter?

Recent evidence suggests that the body plays an important role in forming impressions of personality (Witkower, Tracy, Cheng, & Henrich, in prep), and emotion (Witkower & Tracy, under review). While several studies have linked head position to evaluations of dominance, there is controversy surrounding the nature of this relationship (i.e., whether an upwards or downwards head tilt increases perceptions of dominance) and the mechanism underlying the effect (i.e., whether it is due to increased expansiveness or altering visible ratios in the face related to testosterone). Across several studies, Zachary Witkower demonstrates that: (a) when eye gaze is directed forward, dominance perceptions primarily result from head tilted down rather than up, (b) this effect cannot be explained by either increased expansiveness or increasing the facial width-to-height ratio, and (c) the best explanation is a novel one—that tilting the head down deceptively conveys the appearance of activating the corrugator muscle in the face – a behavior that communicates threat and anger across cultures. Together, these studies provide new clarity and theoretical insight regarding the impact of the head in forming impressions of dominance.