ANTHROPOLOGIE
International Journal of Human Diversity and Evolution
 
Coverage: 1923-1941 (Vols. I-XIX) & 1962-2023 (Vols. 1-61)
ISSN 0323-1119 (Print)
ISSN 2570-9127 (Online)
Journal Impact Factor 0.2
News: Volume 62 Issue 2 is in progress.
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
SCImago Journal & Country Rank
 
 
Full text of article
'Kočnar T, Drbalová KR, Kleisner K, 2012: Do dominant-looking males have brown eyes? A further investigation of the role of iris colour for dominance perception. Anthropologie (Brno) 50, 1: 25-31'.
 
Abstract
The eyes represent a conspicuous facial element of unique appearance; they play an important role in signalling and communication within many animal species including humans. In this paper, we investigate the possible influence of eye colour on the perception of dominance. This research is based on our previous study (Kleisner et al., 2010: Pers. Individ. Dif. 49: 59-64) showing that eye colour had a significant effect on perceived dominance. Facial photographs of university students were rated for perceived dominance. To control for a possible idiosyncratic effect of selected facial photographs, the two distinct samples were compiled. The first sample of photos consisted of 80 faces and the second of 120 faces; both were of students from the Faculty of Science, Charles University in Prague. The rating of photographs was performed by volunteers from three different regions: Prague, Usti nad Labem (both Czech Republic), and Tartu (Estonia). Controlling for sample and location, we showed that there is no statistically significant relationship between eye colour and perceived dominance: Prague (P = 0.822), Usti nad Labem (P = 0.778), and Tartu (P = 0.565). These negative results thus contradict the previous study, wherein males with brown eyes were perceived as more dominant than males with blue eyes. In this study we consider the possible local-specific differences and confounding random factors which might be responsible for the previous positive results on an association between eye colour and the perception of dominance.
 
Keywords
Eye colour - Perceived dominance - Facial appearance - Cross-cultural comparison
 
 
 
 

 Full text (PDF)

 Export citation

 Related articles