Advertisement

NCBI ROFL: CEOs with wider faces have wider profit margins.

Discover how CEOs' facial structure influences their firms' financial performance and leadership success.

Newsletter

Sign up for our email newsletter for the latest science news

Sign Up

A Face Only an Investor Could Love: CEOs' Facial Structure Predicts Their Firms' Financial Performance. "Researchers have theorized that innate personal traits are related to leadership success. Although links between psychological characteristics and leadership success have been well established, research has yet to identify any objective physical traits of leaders that predict organizational performance. In the research reported here, we identified leaders' facial structure as a specific physical trait that correlates with organizational performance. Specifically, we found that firms whose male CEOs have wider faces (relative to facial height) achieve superior financial performance. Decision-making dynamics within a firm's leadership team moderate this effect, such that the relationship between a given CEO's facial measurements and his firm's financial performance is stronger in firms with cognitively simple leadership teams."

Photo: Flickr/Walmart Stores

Related content: Discoblog: NCBI ROFL: The teddy-bear effect: does having a baby face benefit black chief executive officers? Discoblog: NCBI ROFL: The politically incorrect nose job. Discoblog: NCBI ROFL: Social perceptions of individuals missing upper front teeth. WTF is NCBI ROFL? Read our FAQ!

Stay Curious

JoinOur List

Sign up for our weekly science updates

View our Privacy Policy

SubscribeTo The Magazine

Save up to 40% off the cover price when you subscribe to Discover magazine.

Subscribe
Advertisement

1 Free Article