The entire gamut of facial shapes has not been included in prior research investigating the perception of African American men’s facial attractiveness. The 10 facial shapes identified for African American men (elliptic, oval, reversed oval, round, rectangular, quadratic, rhombic, trapezium, inverted trapezium, and pentagonal) were examined in this research. Based on evolutionary theory and prior research, the reversed oval, rectangular, trapezium, and inverted trapezium faces were hypothesized to be rated as most attractive, most dominant, most mature, most masculine, strongest, and most socially competent. Smaller, round, or oval faces were hypothesized to be perceived as warmest. The results obtained were consistent with these hypotheses. These findings are discussed in terms of evolutionary psychological adaptations and prior research.
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