Abstract
The male beard is one of the most visually salient and sexually dimorphic traits and a hypothesized potential marker of other traits, such as dominance, masculinity, social status, and self-confidence. However, as men can easily alter their facial hair, beards may provide unreliable information about the beard owner’s characteristics. Here, we examined whether beards are honest signals of biological (testosterone levels) and psychological (self-reported dominance) traits. Young (M = 21.29, SD = 1.54) and healthy men (N = 97) participated in the study. Their beards were measured directly (using digital calipers) and by self-report. Participants provided saliva samples before and after acute exercise (to assess their testosterone and cortisol levels) and reported their dominance on a 5-item scale. The results showed that beard length (directly measured and self-reported) was not related to testosterone levels or dominance; thus, no evidence was found to support the hypothesis that beards are honest (or dishonest) signals of the beard owners’ testosterone levels and dominance.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Addison, W. E. (1989). Beardedness as a factor in perceived masculinity. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 68(3), 921–922. https://doi.org/10.2466/pms.1989.68.3.921
Archer, J., & Thanzami, V. (2007). The relation between physical aggression, size and strength, among a sample of young Indian men. Personality and Individual Differences, 43(3), 627–633. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2007.01.005
Backwell, P. R. Y., Christy, J. H., Telford, S. R., Jennions, M. D., & Passmore, J. (2000). Dishonest signalling in a fiddler crab. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences, 267(1444), 719–724. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2000.1062
Barber, N. (2001). Mustache fashion covaries with a good marriage market for women. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, 25(4), 261–272. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1012515505895
Beaven, C. M., Ingram, J. R., Gill, N. D., & Hopkins, W. G. (2010). Ultradian rhythmicity and induced changes in salivary testosterone. European Journal of Applied Physiology, 110(2), 405–413. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-010-1518-3
Beseris, E. A., Naleway, S. E., & Carrier, D. R. (2020). Impact protection potential of mammalian hair: Testing the pugilism hypothesis for the evolution of human facial hair. Integrative Organismal Biology, 2(1). https://doi.org/10.1093/iob/obaa005
Blanchard, D. C. (2010). Of lion manes and human beards: Some unusual effects of the interaction between aggression and sociality. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, 3, 45–45. https://doi.org/10.3389/neuro.08.045.2009
Buss, D. M. (1989). Sex differences in human mate preferences: Evolutionary hypotheses tested in 37 cultures. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 12(1), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0140525X00023992
Butovskaya, M., Sorokowska, A., Karwowski, M., Sabiniewicz, A., Fedenok, J., Dronova, D., Negasheva, M., Selivanova, E., & Sorokowski, P. (2017). Waist-to-hip ratio, body-mass index, age and number of children in seven traditional societies. Scientific Reports, 7(1), 1622. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-01916-9
Chieffi, M. (1949). Effect of testosterone administration on the beard growth of elderly males. Journal of Gerontology, 4(3), 200–204. https://doi.org/10.1093/geronj/4.3.200
Crewther, B., Lowe, T. E., Ingram, J., & Weatherby, R. P. (2010). Validating the salivary testosterone and cortisol concentration measures in response to short high-intensity exercise. Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness; Turin, 50(1), 85–92.
Dabbs, J. M. (1990). Salivary testosterone measurements: Reliability across hours, days and weeks. Physiology & Behavior, 48(1), 83–86. https://doi.org/10.1016/0031-9384(90)90265-6
Darwin, C. (1872). The descent of Man and selection in relation to sex. Prometheus Books.
Dixson, B. J., Sulikowski, D., Gouda-Vossos, A., Rantala, M. J., & Brooks, R. C. (2016). The masculinity paradox: Facial masculinity and beardedness interact to determine women’s ratings of men’s facial attractiveness. Journal of Evolutionary Biology, 29(11), 2311–2320. https://doi.org/10.1111/jeb.12958
Dixson, B. J. W., Rantala, M. J., Melo, E. F., & Brooks, R. C. (2017). Beards and the big city: Displays of masculinity may be amplified under crowded conditions. Evolution and Human Behavior, 38(2), 259–264. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2016.10.009
Dixson, B. J. W., Sherlock, J. M., Cornwell, W. K., & Kasumovic, M. M. (2018). Contest competition and men’s facial hair: Beards may not provide advantages in combat. Evolution and Human Behavior, 39(2), 147–153. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2017.11.004
Dixson, B. J., & Brooks, R. C. (2013). The role of facial hair in women’s perceptions of men’s attractiveness, health, masculinity and parenting abilities. Evolution and Human Behavior, 34(3), 236–241. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2013.02.003
Dixson, B. J., & Vasey, P. L. (2012). Beards augment perceptions of men’s age, social status and aggressiveness, but not attractiveness. Behavioral Ecology, 23(3), 481–490. https://doi.org/10.1093/beheco/arr214
Egger, M., & Walter, N. (2019). Comfort me: A qualitative study on the behaviour of Generation Y when purchasing the high-involvement product everyday bra. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hj:diva-43915
Feinman, S., & Gill, G. W. (1977). Females’ response to males’ beardedness. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 44(2), 533–534. https://doi.org/10.2466/pms.1977.44.2.533
Fink, B., Neave, N., Manning, J. T., & Grammer, K. (2006). Facial symmetry and judgements of attractiveness, health and personality. Personality and Individual Differences, 41(3), 491–499. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2006.01.017
Fink, B., Neave, N., & Seydel, H. (2007). Male facial appearance signals physical strength to women. American Journal of Human Biology, 19(1), 82–87. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajhb.20583
Folstad, I., & Karter, A. J. (1992). Parasites, Bright Males and the Immunocompetence Handicap. The American Naturalist, 139(3), 603–622. https://doi.org/10.1086/285346
Furnham, A., McClelland, A., & Omer, L. (2003). A cross-cultural comparison of ratings of perceived fecundity and sexual attractiveness as a function of body weight and waist-to-hip ratio. Psychology, Health & Medicine, 8(2), 219–2304. https://doi.org/10.1080/1354850031000087609
Gangestad, S. W., & Scheyd, G. J. (2005). The evolution of human physical attractiveness. Annual Review of Anthropology, 34(1), 523–548. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.anthro.33.070203.143733
Granger, D. (2004). The ‘trouble’ with salivary testosterone. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 29(10), 1229–1240. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2004.02.005
Groyecka, A., Żelaźniewicz, A., Misiak, M., Karwowski, M., & Sorokowski, P. (2017). Breast shape (ptosis) as a marker of a woman’s breast attractiveness and age: Evidence from Poland and Papua. American Journal of Human Biology, 29(4), e22981. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajhb.22981
Guthrie, R. (1970). Evolution of human threat display organs. Evolutionary biology, 4(1), 257–302.
Hatfield, E., & Sprecher, S. (1986). Mirror, mirror: The importance of looks in everyday life. SUNY Press.
Havlíček, J., Třebický, V., Valentova, J. V., Kleisner, K., Akoko, R. M., Fialová, J., Jash, R., Kočnar, T., Pereira, K. J., Štěrbová, Z., Varella, M. A. C., Vokurková, J., Vunan, E., & Roberts, S. C. (2017). Men’s preferences for women’s breast size and shape in four cultures. Evolution and Human Behavior, 38(2), 217–226. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2016.10.002
Hellhammer, D. H., Hubert, W., & Schürmeyer, T. (1985). Changes in saliva testosterone after psychological stimulation in men. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 10(1), 77–81. https://doi.org/10.1016/0306-4530(85)90041-1
Janif, Z. J., Brooks, R. C., & Dixson, B. J. (2014). Negative frequency-dependent preferences and variation in male facial hair. Biology Letters, 10(4), 20130958–20130958. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2013.0958
Kenny, C. T., & Fletcher, D. (1973). Effects of beardedness on person perception. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 37(2), 413–414. https://doi.org/10.2466/pms.1973.37.2.413
Knussmann, R., & Christiansen, K. (1989). Attributes of masculinity and androgen level. Homo, 39, 45–50.
Kordsmeyer, T. L., Freund, D., Pita, S. R., Jünger, J., & Penke, L. (2019). Further evidence that facial width-to-height ratio and global facial masculinity are not positively associated with testosterone levels. Adaptive Human Behavior and Physiology, 5(2), 117–130. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40750-018-0105-4
Kowal, M., Sorokowski, P., Żelaźniewicz, A., Nowak, J., Orzechowski, S., Żurek, G., & Żurek, A. (2021). A positive relationship between body height and the testosterone response to physical exercise. Evolution and Human Behavior, 42, 179–195. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2020.08.012
Marsh, A. A., Yu, H. H., Schechter, J. C., & Blair, R. J. R. (2009). Larger than life: Humans’ nonverbal status cues alter perceived size. PLoS ONE, 4(5), e5707. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0005707
Mefodeva, V., Sidari, M. J., Chau, H., Fitzsimmons, B., Antoine, G., Clarkson, T. R., Pearson, S., Lee, A. J., & Dixson, B. J. W. (2020). Multivariate intra-sexual selection on men’s perceptions of male facial morphology. Adaptive Human Behavior and Physiology, 6(2), 143–169. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40750-020-00128-2
Mehta, P. H., & Josephs, R. A. (2010). Testosterone and cortisol jointly regulate dominance: Evidence for a dual-hormone hypothesis. Hormones and Behavior, 58(5), 898–906. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yhbeh.2010.08.020
Muscarella, F., & Cunningham, M. R. (1996). The evolutionary significance and social perception of male pattern baldness and facial hair. Ethology and Sociobiology, 17(2), 99–117. https://doi.org/10.1016/0162-3095(95)00130-1
Neave, N., & Shields, K. (2008). The effects of facial hair manipulation on female perceptions of attractiveness, masculinity and dominance in male faces. Personality and Individual Differences, 45(5), 373–377. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2008.05.007
Nowak, J., Pawłowski, B., Borkowska, B., Augustyniak, D., & Drulis-Kawa, Z. (2018). No evidence for the immunocompetence handicap hypothesis in male humans. Scientific Reports, 8(1). https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-25694-0
Oldmeadow, J. A., & Dixson, B. J. (2016). The association between men’s sexist attitudes and facial hair. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 45(4), 891–899. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-015-0637-7
Pancer, S. M., & Meindl, J. R. (1978). Length of hair and beardedness as determinants of personality impressions. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 46(3), 1328–1330. https://doi.org/10.2466/pms.1978.46.3c.1328
Pellegrini, A. D., Roseth, C. J., Mliner, S., Bohn, C. M., Van Ryzin, M., Vance, N., Cheatham, C. L., & Tarullo, A. (2007). Social dominance in preschool classrooms. Journal of Comparative Psychology, 121(1), 54–64. https://doi.org/10.1037/0735-7036.121.1.54
Penton-Voak, I. S., & Chen, J. Y. (2004). High salivary testosterone is linked to masculine male facial appearance in humans. Evolution and Human Behavior, 25(4), 229–241. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2004.04.003
Perrett, D. I., Burt, D. M., Penton-Voak, I. S., Lee, K. J., Rowland, D. A., & Edwards, R. (1999). Symmetry and human facial attractiveness. Evolution and Human Behavior, 20(5), 295–307. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1090-5138(99)00014-8
Peters, M., Simmons, L. W., & Rhodes, G. (2008). Testosterone is associated with mating success but not attractiveness or masculinity in human males. Animal Behaviour, 76(2), 297–303. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2008.02.008
Pound, N., Penton-Voak, I. S., & Surridge, A. K. (2009). Testosterone responses to competition in men are related to facial masculinity. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 276(1654), 153–159. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2008.0990
Prokop, P., & Švancárová, J. (2020). Wearing high heels as female mating strategy. Personality and Individual Differences, 152, 109558. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2019.109558
Randall, V. A. (2008). Androgens and hair growth. Dermatologic Therapy, 21(5), 314–328. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1529-8019.2008.00214.x
Rantala, M. J., Coetzee, V., Moore, F. R., Skrinda, I., Kecko, S., Krama, T., Kivleniece, I., & Krams, I. (2013). Adiposity, compared with masculinity, serves as a more valid cue to immunocompetence in human mate choice. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 280(1751), 20122495. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2012.2495
Reed, J. A., & Blunk, E. M. (1990). The influence of facial hair on impression formation. Social Behavior and Personality. 18(1), 169–175. https://doi.org/10.2224/sbp.1990.18.1.169
Rhodes, G., Simmons, L. W., & Peters, M. (2005). Attractiveness and sexual behavior: Does attractiveness enhance mating success? Evolution and Human Behavior, 26(2), 186–201. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2004.08.014
Roberts, M. L., Buchanan, K. L., & Evans, M. R. (2004). Testing the immunocompetence handicap hypothesis: A review of the evidence. Animal Behaviour, 68(2), 227–239. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2004.05.001
Robertson, J. R. (1999). Forensic examination of hair. Taylor & Francis.
Roll, S., & Verinis, J. S. (1971). Stereotypes of scalp and facial hair as measured by the semantic differential. Psychological Reports, 28(3), 975–980. https://doi.org/10.2466/pr0.1971.28.3.975
Scott, I. M. L., Clark, A. P., Boothroyd, L. G., & Penton-Voak, I. S. (2013). Do men’s faces really signal heritable immunocompetence? Behavioral Ecology, 24(3), 579–589. https://doi.org/10.1093/beheco/ars092
Sherlock, J. M., Tegg, B., Sulikowski, D., & Dixson, B. J. W. (2017). Facial masculinity and beardedness determine men’s explicit, but not their implicit, responses to male dominance. Adaptive Human Behavior and Physiology, 3(1), 14–29. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40750-016-0047-7
Simmons, L. W., Rhodes, G., Peters, M., & Koehler, N. (2004). Are human preferences for facial symmetry focused on signals of developmental instability? Behavioral Ecology, 15(5), 864–871. https://doi.org/10.1093/beheco/arh099
Singh, D. (2002). Female mate value at a glance: Relationship of waist-to-hip ratio to health, fecundity and attractiveness. Neuro Endocrinology Letters, 23(Suppl 4), 81–91.
Sorokowski, P. (2010). Politicians’ estimated height as an indicator of their popularity. European Journal of Social Psychology, 40(7), 1302–1309. https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.710
Sorokowski, P., & Pawlowski, B. (2008). Adaptive preferences for leg length in a potential partner. Evolution and Human Behavior, 29(2), 86–91. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2007.09.002
Thomas, N. E., Leyshon, A., Hughes, M. G., Davies, B., Graham, M., & Baker, J. S. (2009). The effect of anaerobic exercise on salivary cortisol, testosterone and immunoglobulin (A) in boys aged 15–16 years. European Journal of Applied Physiology, 107(4), 455–461. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-009-1146-y
Thornhill, R., & Gangestad, S. W. (2006). Facial sexual dimorphism, developmental stability and susceptibility to disease in men and women. Evolution and Human Behavior, 27(2), 131–144. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2005.06.001
Thornton, M. J., Laing, I., Hamada, K., Messenger, A. G., & Randall, V. A. (1993). Differences in testosterone metabolism by beard and scalp hair follicle dermal papilla cells. Clinical Endocrinology, 39(6), 633–639. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2265.1993.tb02420.x
Thornton, M. J., Hamada, K., Randall, V. A., & Messenger, A. G. (1998). Androgen-dependent beard dermal papilla cells secrete autocrine growth factor(s) in response to testosterone unlike scalp cells. Journal of Investigative Dermatology, 111(5), 727–732. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1523-1747.1998.00396.x
Trumble, B. C., Cummings, D. K., O’Connor, K. A., Holman, D. J., Smith, E. A., Kaplan, H. S., & Gurven, M. D. (2013). Age-independent increases in male salivary testosterone during horticultural activity among Tsimane forager-farmers. Evolution and Human Behavior, 34(5), 350–357. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2013.06.002
Trumble, B. C., Cummings, D., von Rueden, C., O’Connor, K. A., Smith, E. A., Gurven, M., & Kaplan, H. (2012). Physical competition increases testosterone among Amazonian forager-horticulturalists: A test of the ‘challenge hypothesis.’ Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 279(1739), 2907–2912. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2012.0455
van Anders, S. M. (2010). Gonadal steroids and salivary IgA in healthy young women and men. American Journal of Human Biology, 22(3), 348–352. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajhb.20997
Velasco-Orjuela, G. P., Domínguez-Sanchéz, M. A., Hernández, E., Correa-Bautista, J. E., Triana-Reina, H. R., García-Hermoso, A., Peña-Ibagon, J. C., Izquierdo, M., Cadore, E. L., Hackney, A. C., & Ramírez-Vélez, R. (2018). Acute effects of high-intensity interval, resistance or combined exercise protocols on testosterone—cortisol responses in inactive overweight individuals. Physiology & Behavior, 194, 401–409. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physbeh.2018.06.034
West, P. M., MacCormick, H., Hopcraft, G., Whitman, K., Ericson, M., Hordinsky, M., & Packer, C. (2006). Wounding, mortality and mane morphology in African lions, Panthera leo. Animal Behaviour, 71(3), 609–619. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2005.06.009
Wogalter, M. S., & Hosie, J. A. (1991). Effects of cranial and facial hair on perceptions of age and person. Journal of Social Psychology, 131(4), 589–591. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224545.1991.9713892
Wood, D. R. (1986). Self-perceived masculinity between bearded and nonbearded males. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 62(3), 769–770. https://doi.org/10.2466/pms.1986.62.3.769
Zahavi, A. (1975). Mate selection—A selection for a handicap. Journal of Theoretical Biology, 53(1), 205–214. https://doi.org/10.1016/0022-5193(75)90111-3
Zahavi, A., & Zahavi, A. (1999). The handicap principle: A missing piece of Darwin’s puzzle. Oxford University Press.
Zitzmann, M., & Nieschlag, E. (2001). Testosterone levels in healthy men and the relation to behavioural and physical characteristics: Facts and constructs. European Journal of Endocrinology, 144, 183–197. https://doi.org/10.1530/eje.0.1440183
Acknowledgment
This study was funded by University of Wrocław. We thank Diane Williams, Ph.D., from Edanz Group (https://en-author-services.edanzgroup.com/ac), for editing a draft of this manuscript.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
Marta Kowal, Piotr Sorokowski, Agnieszka Żelaźniewicz, and Judyta Nowak contributed to the study conception and design and material preparation. Marta Kowal, Sylwester Orzechowski, Grzegorz Żurek, Alina Żurek, and Magdalena Nawrat were responsible for data collection. Detailed hormonal methodology and analyses were performed by Agnieszka Żelaźniewicz and Judyta Nowak. Statistical analyses were performed by Marta Kowal. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Marta Kowal and Piotr Sorokowski, and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Consent to participate
All participants provided their informed, written consent to take part in the study, in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki. The ethics committee of the Institute of Psychology (University of Wrocław) approved the study protocol.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Kowal, M., Sorokowski, P., Żelaźniewicz, A. et al. Are Beards Honest Signals of Male Dominance and Testosterone?. Arch Sex Behav 50, 3703–3710 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-021-02012-w
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-021-02012-w