Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Experiment Videos

What gives a face its gender?

E Brown1, D I Perrett

  • 1Department of Psychology, University of St Andrews, Fife, Scotland, UK.

Perception
|January 1, 1993
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Facial features like brows, eyes, and jawlines convey gender information. Feature configuration significantly influences perceived gender in faces, highlighting the importance of facial structure in gender attribution.

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Event-related potentials modulated by the perception of sexual dimorphism: The influence of attractiveness and sex of faces.

Biological psychology·2018
Same author

It is all in the face: carotenoid skin coloration loses attractiveness outside the face.

Biology letters·2013
Same author

The shared neural basis of empathy and facial imitation accuracy.

NeuroImage·2013
Same author

Visual processing of faces in temporal cortex: physiological evidence for a modular organization and possible anatomical correlates.

Journal of cognitive neuroscience·2013
Same author

The nature and limits of orientation and pattern processing supporting visuomotor control in a visual form agnosic.

Journal of cognitive neuroscience·2013
Same author

Responses of Anterior Superior Temporal Polysensory (STPa) Neurons to "Biological Motion" Stimuli.

Journal of cognitive neuroscience·2013

Area of Science:

  • Psychology
  • Human Perception
  • Facial Recognition

Background:

  • Gender perception is influenced by facial cues.
  • Understanding which facial features contribute to gender attribution is crucial for facial recognition and human perception studies.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the gender-attributing power of isolated facial features.
  • To examine how feature substitution affects perceived gender in composite faces.
  • To explore the role of facial configuration in gender perception.

Main Methods:

  • Created prototype male and female faces by averaging sixteen individual faces each.
  • Presented isolated facial features and feature pairs for gender classification.
  • Substituted features between prototype faces to create composite faces for gender classification.

Related Experiment Videos

Main Results:

  • Isolated features, particularly brows & eyes, brows, eyes, jaw, chin, nose & mouth, and mouth, carried gender information.
  • Feature substitution demonstrated that jaw, brows & eyes, chin, and brows significantly altered perceived gender.
  • The nose was the only feature that did not carry significant gender information in isolation.

Conclusions:

  • Multiple facial features contribute to gender perception.
  • Facial configuration plays a critical role in how gender is perceived, beyond the information carried by individual features.
  • The study provides insights into the complex mechanisms of facial gender attribution.