Predicting adult health and mortality from adolescent facial characteristics in yearbook photographs

Reither, Eric N.; Hauser, Robert M.; Swallen, Karen C.

doi:10.1353/dem.0.0037

Cited by 64 publications

(64 citation statements)

References 39 publications

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“…Adolescent facial adiposity judgements are associated with all-cause mortality ( particularly heart disease mortality) and several medically assessed chronic conditions in a large longitudinal study (n ¼ 3027 [24]). Adiposity is also highly heritable [28], thus a person with an optimal level of adiposity could potentially provide not only direct, but also indirect benefits to a partner.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Adiposity, compared with masculinity, serves as a more valid cue to immunocompetence in human mate choice

et al. 2013

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According to the 'good genes' hypothesis, females choose males based on traits that indicate the male's genetic quality in terms of disease resistance. The 'immunocompetence handicap hypothesis' proposed that secondary sexual traits serve as indicators of male genetic quality, because they indicate that males can contend with the immunosuppressive effects of testosterone. Masculinity is commonly assumed to serve as such a secondary sexual trait. Yet, women do not consistently prefer masculine looking men, nor is masculinity consistently related to health across studies. Here, we show that adiposity, but not masculinity, significantly mediates the relationship between a direct measure of immune response (hepatitis B antibody response) and attractiveness for both body and facial measurements. In addition, we show that circulating testosterone is more closely associated with adiposity than masculinity. These findings indicate that adiposity, compared with masculinity, serves as a more important cue to immunocompetence in female mate choice.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Adiposity, compared with masculinity, serves as a more valid cue to immunocompetence in human mate choice

et al. 2013

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“…Previous research has shown that the RBM measure is a valid and reliable indicator of body mass (Glass et al 2010; Reither et al 2009). The RBM scale fares well with respect to interrater reliability (Cronbach's α = 0.91) and intrarater reliability, where test-retest correlations are 0.8 or higher for a majority of coders (Reither et al 2009). RBM in adolescence is also a significant predictor of BMI, obesity, and health outcomes in midlife (e.g., hypertension, diabetes and premature mortality), demonstrating excellent criterion-related validity.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gender and Reinforcing Associations between Socioeconomic Disadvantage and Body Mass over the Life Course

et al. 2014

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Using the 1957–1993 data from the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study, we explore reciprocal associations between socioeconomic status (SES) and body mass in this 1939 birth cohort of non-Hispanic white men and women. We integrate the fundamental cause theory, the gender relations theory, and the life-course perspective to analyze gender differences in (a) the ways that early socioeconomic disadvantage launches bidirectional associations of body mass and SES, and (b) the extent to which these mutually-reinforcing effects generate socioeconomic disparities in midlife body mass. Using structural equation modeling, we find that socioeconomic disadvantage at age 18 is related to higher body mass index and a greater risk of obesity at age 54, and that this relationship is significantly stronger for women than men. Moreover, women are more adversely affected by two mechanisms underlying the focal association: the obesogenic effect of socioeconomic disadvantage and the SES-impeding effect of obesity. These patterns were also replicated in propensity score matching models. Gender and SES act synergistically over the life course to shape reciprocal chains of two disadvantaged statuses: heavier body mass and lower SES.

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“…Ratings were averaged across participants for each face. [18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29] were taken using a camera in D65 lighting in a photographic booth painted with spectrally neutral grey and colour reference card (Gregtag Macbeth Mini ColorChecker Pantone). Clothing was covered with a grey-coloured board to prevent coloured reflection from clothing affecting facial illumination.…”

Section: (Iii) Perceptual Ratingsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Perception of health from facial cues

Henderson

Holzleitner

Talamas

et al. 2016

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

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Impressions of health are integral to social interactions, yet poorly understood. A review of the literature reveals multiple facial characteristics that potentially act as cues to health judgements. The cues vary in their stability across time: structural shape cues including symmetry and sexual dimorphism alter slowly across the lifespan and have been found to have weak links to actual health, but show inconsistent effects on perceived health. Facial adiposity changes over a medium time course and is associated with both perceived and actual health. Skin colour alters over a short time and has strong effects on perceived health, yet links to health outcomes have barely been evaluated. Reviewing suggested an additional influence of demeanour as a perceptual cue to health. We, therefore, investigated the association of health judgements with multiple facial cues measured objectively from two-dimensional and three-dimensional facial images. We found evidence for independent contributions of face shape and skin colour cues to perceived health. Our empirical findings: (i) reinforce the role of skin yellowness; (ii) demonstrate the utility of global face shape measures of adiposity; and (iii) emphasize the role of affect in facial images with nominally neutral expression in impressions of health.

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Predicting adult health and mortality from adolescent facial characteristics in yearbook photographs

Cited by 64 publications

References 39 publications

Adiposity, compared with masculinity, serves as a more valid cue to immunocompetence in human mate choice

Adiposity, compared with masculinity, serves as a more valid cue to immunocompetence in human mate choice

Gender and Reinforcing Associations between Socioeconomic Disadvantage and Body Mass over the Life Course

Perception of health from facial cues

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