Perceived trustworthiness is associated with position in a corporate hierarchy

• Trustworthy-looking managers tend to occupy higher positions in corporate hierarchies.
• No association between an occupational position and perception of attractiveness
• The facial features associated with perception of trustworthiness were detected.
• The fWHR ratio was not related to the position in an occupational hierarchy.

Faces provide cues about an individual's social, economic, and reproductive success. Here we examined the relationship between perceived trustworthiness, dominance, attractiveness, and position within a corporate hierarchy in mid- to top-level managers. Position in a hierarchy was operationalized as the difference in the number of subordinates and superiors controlling for firm size. It did not correlate with perceived attractiveness and dominance but was positively correlated with perceived trustworthiness. Geometric morphometrics revealed facial features associated with the perception of trustworthiness. When facial shape was tested against corporate position we found no statistically significant effect. The facial width-to-height ratio, a metric previously shown to be correlated with traits such as dominance and (decreased) trustworthiness, was unrelated to the managers' position in the corporate hierarchy. Implications and limitations are discussed.