Face orientation in offender portraits: Differences by crime type and gender

Abstract

A left-cheek bias has often been reported in previous studies of general portraiture. However, it remains unclear whether a similar tendency appears in offender portraits. The present study examined face orientation in newspaper portraits of murderers and fraud offenders. The analyses compared left-cheek and right-cheek presentations across male and female offenders in the two crime categories. No significant overall left-cheek bias was found. Face orientation did, however, differ significantly across the groups examined. Male murderers more often showed the right cheek, whereas female murderers, male fraud offenders, and female fraud offenders more often showed the left cheek. These findings suggest that offender portraits do not follow a single overall pattern of face orientation. Rather, face orientation in offender portraits differed across offender categories defined by crime type and gender.