Want to be dominant? Here’s the bald truth
A shiny pate implies masculinity, study says
Bald isn’t beautiful, but it is powerful, manly and tall, a new study has found.
“This simple act of head shaving can increase their perceived dominance and competence,” said Dr. Albert Mannes of the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
The study, published in Social Psychological and Personality Science, used three different tests to examine how people react to men with shaved heads.
In one, subjects studied photographs of 25 MBA candidates wearing dark suits and ties. Ten had shaved heads and none appeared to be balding, although the hairy ones sported different styles.
The men all rated similarly for attractiveness, perceived age and agreeableness but the bald ones rated higher for dominance, regardless of race.
In the second study, subjects looked at two pictures each of eight men, one with a full head of hair, the other with digitally shaved heads.
Cut off all their hair and the same men were seen to be more dominant, more masculine, four years older and much stronger.
“That was a bit of a surprise, actually,” Mannes told the Star.
The final test gave subjects three verbal descriptions of a man named John that varied only in his hair: shaved head, thinning brown hair or thick brown hair.
John scored highest for confidence and attractiveness with thick hair but highest in dominance, masculinity, leadership potential, unconventionality and strength with a shaved head. How does Mannes read all this? “If you are visibly balding, shaving could make you feel better about it and give you more confidence.”
The downside? You come across as older and less attractive.
The Wharton lecturer himself shaved off his thinning hair 10 years ago and, to his surprise, found people immediately more deferential. His work at Wharton with leadership and non-verbal behaviour inspired him to test his discovery.
“Twenty years ago, it was a very unusual look,” Mannes said of the shaved head he’s sported for 10 years. “But because of the influence of athletes and Hollywood action stars, that has changed.”