Are political views and religiosity related to facial morphology? Evidence from a Turkish sample

Whether there are objective differences in facial morphology among individuals of differing political conviction is largely unknown. Due to its relation to dominance, which is a component of conservative ideology, the facial width-to-height ratio (fWHR) could be related to political views of face-bearers. We test several hypotheses regarding the relation between fWHR and political views in a sample of 400 Turkish undergraduate students. Participants' facial photographs were taken and several self-report measures were administered in a separate online session. There was no reliable evidence of a relation between fWHR and political views or religiosity. Examining facial morphology more broadly using geometric morphometric (GM) analyses yielded the same conclusion. Both facial morphology and political/religious views are complex and more sensitive empirical tools may be required to capture their relation, if any.