Time to put down the eyebrow brush.
Thick and well-groomed eyebrows may be the *in* style of the moment, but they may reveal a lot more than anyone bargained for.
Namely that, according to new research, maintaining distinctively thick and neat eyebrows is common with narcissists.
A new study published in the Journal of Personality says that these kind of brows are synonymous with those who rate highly on a scale of “grandiose narcissism”, a form of narcissism often characterised as having a flamboyant, dominant and assertive personality.
The University of Toronto’s Miranda Giacomin and Nicholas Rule began the study by taking facial photographs of participants, who ended up later taking the Narcissistic Personality Inventory – an often and widely used measure of subclinical grandiose narcissism.
The photos were then cropped so that only the eyebrows could be seen and then sent on to independent coders, who created them on everything from density to grooming.
The eyebrow ratings were then correlated to participants’ self-reported narcissism – only to find that there was a strong link between eyebrow distinctiveness and participants’ grandiosity.
According to the authors of the study, this may be down to a want to be aesthetically unique and recognisable.
It may also facilitate a desire to be remembered and liked by others, which reinforces the overly positive views that narcissists have of themselves.
