Is your face wider than it is tall? You might be more likely to cheat: Study

A Simon Fraser University study published last fall suggests the shape of a man’s face could determine whether he’s a cheater. Men with a high facial width-to-height ratio (FWHR) are likely to have higher sex drives and could be more inclined to step outside the boundaries of a monogamous relationship.

The study asked male and female students from two Canadian universities to answer questionnaires that were used to measure sex drive. Researchers also photographed each participant’s face and found the FWHR by dividing the width of the face by the distance between the lip and upper-brow ridge.

“Past research shows that the facial-widthto-height ratio predicts dominant types of behaviour, such as aggression,” said SFU psychology researcher Brian Bird, who led the 2017 study. “Some researchers speculate that during critical life periods like puberty, a rise in testosterone may influence the development of this facial structure, as well as the organization of neural circuitry that underlies dominant behaviours.”

Bird pointed out that while testosterone is linked to dominant behaviours, it’s also shown correlation with certain attitudes and orientations toward sexual activity. “This is the first study to see if this facial metric correlates with variables that are important for mating psychology in men and women,” he said. In a second study, participants were asked to answer questionnaires that were used to measure attitudes toward casual sex and the likelihood of cheating on a partner.

The results of that study also confirmed that those with higher FWHRs are associated with higher sex drives; the result was the same for men and women.