Ned Stark might not be as aggressive as you think he looks, since we already know what sort of character he really is. Which is why, looks can be deceptive. A new study analyzes the actions of aggressive looking males and as it turns out men with angry, violent faces are actually far more likely to make sacrifices for their close friends. Ned Stark style.

The research was carried out by a pair of psychologists at St Andrews University in Scotland and published in Psychological Science. It investigated the generosity of individuals with differing face shapes.

Research has shown that the width to height ratio of the human face correlates with antisocial tendencies like aggression, exploitation, cheating and deception. The wider a person's face for a given height, the more likely they are to behave in an anti social manner.

According to the new research, it suggests that the same measurement can also correlate strongly with in group generosity. People with a more proportionally wider (meaning aggressive looking faces), are most likely to make sacrifices for other members of the group.

The researchers claim that the finding makes evolutionary sense: the most aggressive members of a group also have a strong desire for it to succeed and, seemingly, will do whatever it takes to achieve it. [Psychological Science via Daily Mail]