Are High Cheekbones a Dominant Trait?


Some traits that are desirable are not always dominant. For example, rare eye colors are sought after the most, but they are less likely to be dominant. High cheekbones are a desirable trait that show trustworthiness, sexual maturity, and attractiveness.

The position of the cheekbones is likely to be inherited from your parents. The facial features most likely to be inherited are cheekbones, the tip of the nose, inner corners of the eyes, the area above the lips, and the area below the lips. High cheekbones are attractive but neither masculine nor feminine.

Why do I have high cheekbones?

High cheekbones are inherited from your parents. This is because high cheekbones are one of the most passed-on traits. That means one of your parents has passed on high cheekbones to you. There are complex factors that go into what traits are passed on such as height. But, high cheekbones are at the top of the list of traits that are passed on.

Though some people don’t have high cheekbones, the overall structure of the face contributes to a person’s attractiveness. Perhaps more importantly, an environment that consists of proper tongue posture and chewing hard foods during childhood will lead to the upswing of the maxilla and force placed on the cheekbones, which makes them grow.

Are high cheekbones attractive?

High cheekbones are considered attractive throughout the world. A study looking at our brain’s response to high cheekbones was done by Freeman et al. (2014). It showed that people with high cheekbones are seen as more trustworthy. High cheekbones also signal sexual maturity and loss of baby fat.

In addition to being high, attractive cheekbones must also have anterior and lateral growth. Prominence in cheekbones is more important than positioning.

Are high cheekbones masculine?

High cheekbones are neither masculine nor feminine because so much of the cheekbone positioning depends on genetics. They are just a marker of universal attractiveness, like clear skin. Female cheekbones are bigger and rounder, but not as prominent. This is why women have fewer shadows on their cheek area. 

What determines facial masculinity instead is angularity. Men will have more angular cheekbones. Men’s cheekbones will also be flatter and less prominent than women’s according to Avelar et al. (2017).

Who has stronger genes mother or father?

It is true that if both parents have a dominant gene the chance that a child will have that trait are higher than if the dominant trait is only present in one parent. This cannot be argued. But it has yet to be discovered by science which parent has stronger genes. There are articles online which claim research has been done but do not link or provide a reference to the actual study. So, this is an area that needs further research.

The chance that a dominant trait will be passed on is known as the probability of inheritance and is solved using a Punnett square. Here is an excellent article explaining everything about it in a very clear and easy to understand way.

What other dominant traits are there?

Before we get into a list, I will briefly explain how a dominant trait and recessive trait are classified. This way there won’t be confusion later when discussing them. Half of the traits are inherited from each parent. The traits which are dominant have a higher probability of occurring in their children.

An example is hair color. Black hair is a dominant trait. Other colors are recessive traits. Therefore, if one parent has black hair, and the other parents have different-colored hair, the child is more likely to have black hair because it is a dominant trait.

It is however important to note that some traits are controlled by environmental factors. It is well known that poor nutrition can lead to stunted growth as well as premature birth.

Dominant traits list

Below is the list of common dominant traits with brief notes to clarification.

Trait Dominant or Recessive Notes
Black hair color Dominant All other hair colors are recessive
Curly hair color Dominant Straight hair is recessive. Surprising given Asian hair.
Baldness Dominant It is considered that the grandchildren will inherit the hair pattern of their maternal grandfather. Your mothers dad’s baldness.
Straight hairline Recessive A v-shaped hairline is dominant. It is also called a Widow’s peak.
Freckles Dominant
A cleft chin Dominant The fold down the center of the chin
Dimples Dominant
Almond-shaped eyes Dominant Rounded eyes are recessive
Detached earlobes Dominant Where the ear lobe hangs down. An attached ear lobe goes in at a 45-degree angle, with no earlobe present.
Being able to roll your tongue Dominant
Webbed fingers Dominant
6 fingers Dominant
Brown eyes Dominant All other eye colors are recessive. Green is the rarest eye color.
Immunity to poison ivy Dominant
High blood pressure Dominant
A&B Blood type Dominant O type is recessive

Is being tall a dominant trait?

Being tall is an example of a trait that is governed by multiple genes. It is not always passed on if it is dominant. There have been studies that have confirmed a correlation between the height of a person and the height of their parents.

All people worldwide have an average height. When a person’s parents are taller than average, their children will be shorter than them. The same is true of people with short parents. It is a phenomenon known as regression to the mean, which is widely established in the field of statistics.

What is sexual dimorphism and how does it apply to high cheekbones?

There was a study conducted by Princeton University. They aimed to find out whether men and women had a preference for masculine or feminine faces. As well as, which they preferred for the long term versus short term relationships. It was found that men preferred females who had feminine features for long term relationships. They also found that men preferred women who have masculine faces for short term relationships.

Women on the other hand preferred masculine features across the board in all categories. This would lead us to ask what features of a man’s face are more masculine. The features of a man’s face that show masculinity are more pronounced bone structure. This includes a bigger forehead, chin and jaw, Adam’s apple, and the width of the face. The bigger, wider, and more pronounced these features, the more masculine a man will appear. A more feminine woman will have less pronounced bone structure, and a more masculine-looking woman will have more pronounced bone structure and bigger features.

Women have more prominent cheekbones. Men’s cheekbones are much more angular, but they’re flat and not as prominent.

Conclusion

High cheekbones are a dominant trait. They are also one of the most dominant traits. High cheekbones are considered attractive in both sexes. This is because people think people with high cheekbones are trustworthy. There are dominant traits that get passed on from parents to children more frequently, however, there is a range of factors and other genes. These can cause a trait to be passed on when it is recessive and vice versa.

Don’t forget that mewing your whole life leads to higher cheekbones. If you weren’t born with high cheekbones, that doesn’t mean you can’t develop them through hard work or other surgeries.

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