College rank, facial characteristics, and personality traits in China and the US

Evidence from psychology and finance links facial characteristics to cognitive and non-cognitive abilities in males. Specifically, prenatal testosterone increases facial masculinity and mathematical aptitude, while circulating testosterone increases facial-width-to-height ratios (fWHRs) and effort in status-seeking behavior. To explore how these associations might influence college admissions, we analyze photos from 450 online social media profiles of alumni from 30 randomly selected Chinese universities ranked 1–200. Notably, Chinese universities use standardized tests almost exclusively for admissions. Thus, the rank of the college of alumni can serve as a measure of mathematical ability and effort in test preparation, and, thereby, the influences of testosterone. Supporting the influence of prenatal testosterone, alumni in "Hard" (i.e., mathematical) majors at high-ranked colleges exhibit significantly higher attractiveness. Supporting the circulating testosterone hypothesis, the fWHRs of alumni in all majors increase with college ranking. A comparison group of US alumni admitted on additional criteria showed no significant associations between facial features and college rank. These results suggest that college admissions based solely on standardized tests may introduce a non-uniform distribution of facial characteristics across universities, which is counteracted by admissions based on other criteria in the US. Our study provides novel insights into the relationship between facial indicators of ability and personality and academic achievement in post-secondary education.