How to know if an MBA is a liar and a cheat? The face is a tell, or course. But it’s not by looking at the eyes or at the subtle contortions of the mouth, brow or cheeks. It’s the wideness of the face. A recent study using MBA students found that a wide face—known for indicating aggressiveness—also correlates to a certain dishonest quality.
In both a staged negotiation using MBA students and a separate experiment in which ordinary undergraduates were given an opportunity to earn more money if they misreported the results of a series of die rolls, the two researchers found that the wider a man’s face was, compared with its height, the more likely he was to lie about his intentions (in the case of the negotiations) or cheat (in the case of the die rolls). That did not, however, apply to women.
Presumably, the fact that the students were MBAs is, as the Economist notes, irrelevant. So, don’t just avoid hammer-headed MBAs. The logical thing is to assume all broad-faced men are equally more likely to hit, cheat and lie to you.
[Photo Credit: flickr/philosophygeek]