Altruistic Face: Experimental Study on Facial Morphology and Prosociality in Buryats of Southern Siberia

The aim of the present experimental study was to investigate possible associations between indi - vidual cooperativeness and facial morphology. Participants of the study were Buryats of Southern Si - beria (males: N=98; females: N=89; mean age 20 ± 2y.). Individual cooperativeness was ass...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: V.V. Rostovtseva, A.A. Mezentseva, S. Windhager, M.L. Butovskaya
Format: Article
Language:Russian
Published: Moscow State University of Psychology and Education 2021-01-01
Series:Экспериментальная психология
Online Access:https://psyjournals.ru/en/exp/2021/n2/Rostovtseva_et_al.shtml
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Summary:The aim of the present experimental study was to investigate possible associations between indi - vidual cooperativeness and facial morphology. Participants of the study were Buryats of Southern Si - beria (males: N=98; females: N=89; mean age 20 ± 2y.). Individual cooperativeness was assessed in experimental economic game “Public Goods Game”, which was conducted “face-to-face”, in groups of 4 same-sex individuals, who were strangers to each other. The game involved real monetary pay-offs. In the course of the experiment such individual behavioral features as propensity for unconditional/conditional cooperation, selfishness, or free-riding were revealed. Facial shapes of participants were explored through anthropological photographs using geometric morphometrics, and via assessing standard facial indexes. As a result the relationship between facial shape and unconditional cooperation was identified and visualized. This relationship appeared only among males. The analysis of sex-specific facial traits of Buryats revealed that faces of male unconditional cooperators combined both male-specific, and female-specific facial features. This is the first study to investigate association between full facial shape and human cooperativeness.
ISSN:2072-7593
2311-7036