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Published on: November 6, 2014
Facial shapes in Frankfurt Horizontal and natural head positions: a methodological study
Anna A Mezentseva1, Victoria V Rostovtseva1, Anna V Komarova1
1Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia.
Background:
Head orientation during photography can distort facial shape, but this is rarely considered in cross-population studies focusing on facial morphology and its perception.
Aim:
To assess how head positioning (Frankfurt Horizontal [FH] vs. natural position [NP]) affects facial shape and trait perception across two ethnic populations.
Subjects And Methods:
Facial photographs were collected from Buryats of Mongolian descent (N = 148) and Russians of European descent (N = 155). Geometric morphometrics were used to compare the facial shapes in the FH and NP positions. Independent rater groups with similar population origins, Kalmyks (N = 162) and Russians (N = 242), evaluated perceived aggressiveness and attractiveness based on these portraits.
Results:
Head orientation significantly altered facial shape, particularly among the Buryat group. Despite the larger facial sexual dimorphism in the Buryat group, sex differences were more pronounced in FH across both samples. Correlations between facial shape and body metrics (height, Body Mass Index, and body fat mass) were stronger in FH. Ratings of male aggressiveness and female attractiveness were consistently influenced by head position across both rater populations and sexes.
Conclusion:
Head positioning introduces systematic bias into facial shape analysis and perception. Failure to control for this factor may compromise study comparability and distort meta-analytic findings.
