Dominant facial features in men linked to 80% likelihood of producing a son
Expectant parents may want to have a closer look at the father's face to determine if they're going to have a boy or a girl.
A study has shown that men with dominant facial characteristics are more likely to produce a son than a daughter.
It applied whatever their level of attractiveness, masculinity or age.
Researchers from the University of Michigan recruited 104 pairs of parents with at least one child.
Both were asked to submit facial photographs which were rated for attractiveness, dominance and masculinity or femininity by university students.
Dominance was linked to an 83 per cent higher chance of having a son, perhaps explaining why the likes of Tom Hardy, Russell Crowe and Jason Statham all had sons as their first child.
The experts' analysis, published in the journal Adaptive Human Behaviour and Physiology, found it applied no matter their level of attractiveness, masculinity or age.
However, there was no similar effect seen for mothers' facial dominance.
'In our sample of romantic couples, we found that fathers with more dominant-looking faces were more likely to have sons for a first-born child,' study author Benjamin Zubaly told PsyPost.
The team said one theory is that when women have higher testosterone levels around the time of conception – a factor linked to having male children – they may prefer dominant-looking males.
This preference, in turn, could influence the likelihood of having a son.
'These results suggest that fathers' facial dominance might influence the likelihood of a couple producing male offspring,' the team wrote.
'We propose a plausible mechanism through which maternal personality, hormones, and mate preferences influence the sex of offspring.
'Relationships between facial cues of dominance and offspring sex warrant further investigation.'
The findings could go some way towards explaining why particular celebrities – who arguably have more 'dominant' faces – have sons as their firstborn child.
Tom Hardy's eldest child is his son Louis, Russell Crowe's eldest is his son Charles, and Jason Statham's eldest is his son Jack.
Meanwhile, less 'dominant-faced' celebrities, including Zayn Malik and Keith Urban, have firstborn daughters.
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