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FWHR Calculator: Measure Your Facial Width-to-Height Ratio
5 min read
Short answer
Facial width-to-height ratio, or FWHR, is bizygomatic width divided by upper face height. It is a simple measurement that has attracted an unusually large body of popular-science claims linking it to aggression, dominance, and behaviour. Much of that research has replicated poorly, and the effects that survive are small.
Measure your FWHR
Upload front-facing photo. Returns the ratio, the two component measurements, and a confidence score.
Measure my FWHRHow it is measured
Width is bizygomatic width, the distance across the widest point of the cheekbones.
Height is upper face height, measured from the highest point of the upper eyelid down to the highest point of the upper lip.
Width divided by height gives the ratio. Most adults fall roughly between 1.7 and 2.1.
The upper-eyelid-to-upper-lip definition is the one used in most of the research literature. Some sources use brow to upper lip instead, which produces a smaller ratio for the same face. If you have seen a different number elsewhere, this is likely why.
What the research actually says
This section is longer than it would be for other metrics, because FWHR is unusual in having a large popular literature that outran the evidence.
Where it started. A 2008 study reported a correlation between FWHR and penalty minutes in professional ice hockey players. This was followed by a substantial number of studies linking FWHR to aggression, dominance, risk-taking, unethical behaviour, achievement drive, and financial decision-making, across a wide range of populations and contexts.
What happened next. Larger studies and meta-analyses found the picture considerably weaker than the early work suggested. Several specific findings failed to replicate. Where associations survive, effect sizes are small, meaning FWHR explains a small fraction of variance in the behaviours studied. Some of the early literature also shows the signatures of publication bias, where positive findings are more likely to be published than null ones.
The testosterone link. FWHR was widely proposed as a marker of pubertal or circulating testosterone exposure. Direct tests of this relationship have produced inconsistent results, and the proposed mechanism is not well supported.
A significant confound. FWHR correlates with body mass. Facial width is affected by soft tissue, and heavier individuals tend to measure wider. A number of studies linking FWHR to behavioural outcomes did not adequately control for this, which means some of what was attributed to skeletal structure may reflect body composition instead.
A more robust finding, with a caveat. FWHR does appear to influence how people are perceived, with higher ratios rated as more dominant or aggressive-looking. That is a finding about the observer, not about the observed. It says something about how faces are read, and nothing about how the person behaves.
The honest summary: FWHR is a real measurement that has been asked to carry far more explanatory weight than it can. It does not predict your personality, your behaviour, or your hormone levels in any way useful at the individual level.
Why we still include it
Two reasons.
It is a proportional measurement that describes something real about facial structure, specifically how wide the face is relative to the upper face height. That is useful descriptive information alongside the other metrics.
And it is one of the most searched facial measurements, which means people are going to look it up. Better that they find an accurate number attached to an accurate account of the research than a number attached to claims about their character.
Why different tools give different numbers
Definition, which is the big one. Upper eyelid to upper lip against brow to upper lip. The two conventions produce noticeably different ratios and are both in use.
Soft tissue. Bizygomatic width measured on a photo includes the tissue over the cheekbones. Body fat changes this measurement without changing the bone. Photo-based FWHR is partly a body composition measurement, which is worth holding in mind if you are comparing your number to figures from studies that used different methods.
Camera distance. Close-range perspective distortion widens the centre of the face, which inflates the width term and raises the ratio.
Head rotation. Any yaw reduces apparent bizygomatic width.
What we do: measure upper eyelid to upper lip, matching the convention used in most of the literature, gate on head rotation, and report confidence based on landmark agreement in the zygomatic and lip regions.
Full method: Methodology
What changes it
The skeletal component does not change in adults. Zygomatic width and orbital and maxillary height are set once growth completes.
The soft tissue component does. Because photo-based FWHR includes tissue over the cheekbones, body fat changes affect it. Reducing body fat generally lowers measured FWHR by reducing the width term.
Surgical options exist for zygomatic width, both augmentation and reduction, and these are maxillofacial procedures.
Nothing you do at home changes the skeletal ratio. Mewing, facial exercises, and chewing-based interventions do not alter zygomatic width or upper face height in adults. Masseter development, from chewing gum or clenching, adds width to the lower face, which is below the region FWHR measures.
How to read your result
As a description of your facial proportions, alongside the other measurements. Most adults fall between about 1.7 and 2.1, and where you sit in that range is a fact about your face's geometry.
Not as a statement about who you are. If you take one thing from this page, take that.
Related: Midface Ratio Calculator · Face Shape Test · Facial Thirds Calculator · Run the full scan
FAQ
What is a normal FWHR?
Most adults fall roughly between 1.7 and 2.1 using the upper-eyelid-to-upper-lip definition. Reported averages vary between studies depending on measurement convention and population.
Does FWHR predict aggression?
Not usefully. Early studies reported associations, but larger studies and meta-analyses have found the effects small and inconsistent, with several specific findings failing to replicate. FWHR does not predict individual behaviour.
Is FWHR linked to testosterone?
The proposal was widely made but has not held up well. Direct tests of the relationship have produced inconsistent results.
Does a high FWHR mean a masculine face?
Sex differences in FWHR are small and the distributions overlap heavily. It is a weaker sex-linked marker than it is often presented as.
Can you change your FWHR?
The skeletal component does not change in adults. The soft tissue component does, so reducing body fat generally lowers measured FWHR by narrowing the width term.
Why is my FWHR different on another site?
Almost certainly the height definition. Upper eyelid to upper lip and brow to upper lip are both in use and produce different ratios for the same face.
Every measurement comes with a per-metric confidence score. Read how ASCNDED measures a face.