An investigation into the perception of dominance from schematic faces: a study using the World-Wide Web

The World-Wide Web (WWW) is considered to be a viable tool for scientific research, and several investigators have already made use of it in their studies. Although the WWW allows researchers to access a vast subject pool, questions of reliability and validity need to be addressed before it is incorporated into mainstream research. By replicating, on the Internet, an existing study (Keating, Mazur, & Segall, 1977) on the perception of schematic faces, we were able to conclude that experimental work carried out in this manner is not necessarily biased by the medium. One difference from previous work was the effect of a smiling versus a nonsmiling face on the perception of dominance, given an identical brow position for the two faces. This was replicated on a different occasion with different subjects, which may represent a shift in attitudes to this facial configuration since the original study was conducted. Young North American males were overrepresented in our sample, but comparison with other surveys indicates that the population sampled by the Internet is becoming more representative.