Fat face? It may be worth a bigger sign-on bonus

Next time a road rager calls you a fat head, shrug it off and count your blessings. Or greenbacks.

It pays to have a wide face both in securing larger sign-on bonuses and negotiating better real estate deals, according to two University of California-Riverside management professors who conducted a series of studies on men's facial structures and how they relate to negotiations and conflict resolution.

Wide-faced men negotiated signing bonuses nearly $2,200 greater than narrow-faced counterparts, one study showed. In another scenario, wide-faced men got higher sale prices selling real estate. And when they were in a buyer's role, negotiated lower prices than narrow-faced study participants, according to professors Michael Haselhuhn and Elaine Wong.

Their study, Negotiating face-to-face: Men's facial structure predicts negotiation performance, was just published in The Leadership Quarterly journal. It's co-authored by Margaret Ormiston and Ena Inesi of the London Business School and Columbia University's Adam Galinsky.

The wide-faced downside? Teams of wide-faced men were less successful than narrow-faced teams trying to negotiate creative solutions in a potential real estate sale.

"These studies show that being a man with a wider face can be both a blessing and a curse, and awareness of this may be important for future business success," Haselhuhn said.

Prior facial studies have suggested that wide-faced men are more likely to react aggressively to perceived slights and hold an advantage in physical confrontations. They're also more likely to cheat to boost financial gains.

The latest facial structure study couldn't answer why men with wider faces achieved greater success, but suggests that they're more focused on self-interests and less concerned about others' well-being.

"We negotiate everyday whether we think about it or not," Haselhuhn said. "It's not just the big things, like a car or a home. It's what time your kid is going to go to bed or what you or your spouse are going to have for dinner."

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