Are facial indicators good markers of sexual dimorphic differences?

Iwona Wronka; Weronika Flis; Maria Wrobel; Bozena Wysocka; Aneta Sitek; Andrzej Ossowski; Ewelina Pospiech; Wojciech Branicki

doi:10.20330/AnthropKozl.2026.67s.117

Iwona Wronka Jagiellonian University, Faculty of Biology, Institute of Zoology and Biomedical Research, Laboratory of Anthropology, Krakow, Poland
Weronika Flis Jagiellonian University, Faculty of Biology, Institute of Zoology and Biomedical Research, Laboratory of Anthropology, Krakow, Poland; Jagiellonian University, Doctoral School of Exact and Natural Sciences, Krakow, Poland
Maria Wrobel Jagiellonian University, Faculty of Biology, Institute of Zoology and Biomedical Research, Laboratory of Anthropology, Krakow, Poland; Jagiellonian University, Doctoral School of Exact and Natural Sciences, Krakow, Poland; Institute of Forensic Research named after Prof. Jan Sehn, Krakow, Poland
Bozena Wysocka Central Forensic Laboratory of the Police, Warsaw, Poland
Aneta Sitek University of Lodz, Faculty of Biology and Environmental Protection, Department of Anthropology, Lodz, Poland
Andrzej Ossowski Pomeranian Medical University, Department of Genomics and Forensic Genetics, Szczecin, Poland
Ewelina Pospiech Pomeranian Medical University, Department of Genomics and Forensic Genetics, Szczecin, Poland
Wojciech Branicki Jagiellonian University, Faculty of Biology, Institute of Zoology and Biomedical Research, Laboratory of Anthropology, Krakow, Poland; Institute of Forensic Research named after Prof. Jan Sehn, Krakow, Poland

DOI: https://doi.org/10.20330/AnthropKozl.2026.67s.117

Absztrakt

Background: Facial indices are commonly used to assess facial masculinization and feminization and are thought to reflect sexually selected traits linked to physiological, behavioural, and psychological characteristics. However, evidence for consistent sex differences remains inconclusive.

Objective: To examine sexual dimorphism in facial indices commonly used to quantify facial masculinization and feminization in a contemporary Polish population.

Materials and methods: The study included 3D facial scans of 459 women and 400 men aged 20–79 years. Using 43 anatomical landmarks, 95 linear measurements and ten facial proportion indices – including the nasal index, fWHR, facial index, and cheekbone prominence – were calculated from Vectra 3D images.

Results: Significant nominal sex differences were observed for the nasal, mouth, and total facial indices (p<0.001); for fWHR and the lower fWHR (p<0.01); and for cheekbone prominence (p<0.05). Higher mean values in women were found for the lower facial height to total facial height ratio, upper facial index, cheekbone prominence, lower fWHR, and mouth width index. Despite these statistically significant differences, the distributions of index values in women and men largely overlapped. Dimorphism indices for facial proportions were consistently small, ranging from 0.07 for the lower facial height to total facial height ratio to 0.56 for the mouth width index, with relatively minor percentage differences between female and male means (0.41–17.59%).

Conclusions: These findings suggest that reliance on single proportional indicators may be insufficient for assessing facial masculinization or feminization, and that future research should focus on multivariate, multi feature approaches.

Hivatkozások

References: None.