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Cited by 75Evolutionary Psychology and Human BehaviorFace Recognition and PerceptionCognitive Abilities and Testing

Perceived intelligence is associated with measured intelligence in men but not women

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Kleisner, Karel, Chvátalová, Veronika, Flegr, Jaroslav·2014·PLoS ONE
DOI 10.1371/journal.pone.0081237PMC PMC3961208
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Abstract

BACKGROUND: The ability to accurately assess the intelligence of other persons finds its place in everyday social interaction and should have important evolutionary consequences. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We used static facial photographs of 40 men and 40 women to test the relationship between measured IQ, perceived intelligence, and facial shape. Both men and women were able to accurately evaluate the intelligence of men by viewing facial photographs. In addition to general intelligence, figural and fluid intelligence showed a significant relationship with perceived intelligence, but again, only in men. No relationship between perceived intelligence and IQ was found for women. We used geometric morphometrics to determine which facial traits are associated with the perception of intelligence, as well as with intelligence as measured by IQ testing. Faces that are perceived as highly intelligent are rather prolonged with a broader distance between the eyes, a larger nose, a slight upturn to the corners of the mouth, and a sharper, pointing, less rounded chin. By contrast, the perception of lower intelligence is associated with broader, more rounded faces with eyes closer to each other, a shorter nose, declining corners of the mouth, and a rounded and massive chin. By contrast, we found no correlation between morphological traits and real intelligence measured with IQ test, either in men or women. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that a perceiver can accurately gauge the real intelligence of men, but not women, by viewing their faces in photographs; however, this estimation is possibly not based on facial shape. Our study revealed no relation between intelligence and either attractiveness or face shape.

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  • There is a gender bias in perceptions of intelligence, with female stimuli rated lower on intelligence.

    “This finding suggests the existence of a gender bias in perceptions of intelligence [3,6].”

    From What is beautiful is still good: the attractiveness halo effect in the era of beauty filters (2024) · cites this paper as [3]

    The Discussion (Correlation between IQ and perceived intelligence; page unavailable) suggests that observers may judge women’s faces using criteria that work for men’s faces, or judge women more strongly by attractiveness. This supports a possible gender difference in how intelligence is perceived, but the cited passages do not show that female stimuli received lower intelligence ratings than male stimuli. (LLM, conf=0.84)

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Cited by

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Authors
Kleisner, K., Chvátalová, V., & Flegr, J.
Affiliations
Charles University (CZ)
Corresponding author
Kleisner, Karel
ORCID
Venue
PLoS ONE
Publisher
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Published
2014-03-20
Volume
9
Issue
3
Pages
e81237
ISSN
1932-6203 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1371/journal.pone.0081237
PMC
PMC3961208
OpenAlex
W2068435761
Cited by
75
References
2
Citations by year
2026: 3 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 10 · 2020: 7 · 2019: 5 · 2018: 5 · 2017: 4 · 2016: 15 · 2015: 5 · 2014: 5
FWCI
13.45
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • PLoS ONE (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
Funders
  • Univerzita Karlova v Praze (UNCE 204004)
  • Grantová Agentura České Republiky (GAP407/11/1464)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Evolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Face Recognition and Perception
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Cognitive Abilities and Testing
Keywords
perceived intelligence, facial attractiveness, facial shape, IQ, sex differences, facial morphology, geometric morphometrics, fluid intelligence, social perception, evolutionary psychology
MeSH terms
Adult, Beauty, Face, Female, Form Perception, Humans, Intelligence, Intelligence Tests, Male, Middle Aged, Perception, Regression Analysis, Sex Characteristics, Students, Universities, Young Adult

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