‘Resting Bitch Face’: Check out how Scientists Prove it Really Exists

Scientists said that "resting bitch face" is real and there is actually an explanation behind it.

For those who are not aware of the concept of the "resting bitch face," it is generally the term used to describe a person, usually a female, who has a mean face. This phrase has been the subject of internet memes and is being used more frequently nowadays to describe a specific facial expression.

Women's Health magazine reported that "resting bitch face" has become the subject of a new study conducted by research firm Noldus Information Technology. They tried to discover the difference between an emotionless face and a "resting bitch face."

Behavioral scientists Jason Rogers, Ph.D. and Abbe Macbeth, Ph.D. used a software that they call the FaceReader, which assigns eight different human emotions, namely, happiness, anger, fear, sadness, disgust, contempt, surprise and neutral.

To conduct the experiment, Rogers and Macbeth used faces of celebrities like Kristen Stewart and Kanye West who are known for their "resting bitch face." The FaceReader picked up "contempt" through their subtle facial cues, New York magazine reported.

There were two intriguing conclusions that came up after the experiment. The first point was that the human tendency to classify someone with a sullen expression is not always wrong. In other words, sometimes people could easily detect whether someone just looks neutral or is bringing some grumpy vibe.

The second point was that the "resting bitch face" is not actually gender specific, although it is more noticeable in women. The notion that the "resting bitch face" is common among women may be due to how female celebrities show up at the red carpet, refusing to flash their pearly whites. However, the FaceReader has detected the male and female faces in equal measures.

"That [smiling] is something that's expected from women far more than it's expected from men, and there's a lot of anecdotal articles and scientific literature on that. Therefore, RBF isn't necessarily something that occurs more in women, but we're more attuned to notice it in women because women have more pressure on them to be happy and smiley and to get along with others," Macbeth said.

Are you curious to find out more? Washington Post said that Rogers and Macbeth invited the public to submit their own photos for analysis. Anyone who is interested is welcome to send photos with their most "neutral" facial expressions to Jason@noldus.com. The FaceReader will then determine whether your face is just expressionless or if you have the "resting bitch face" phenomenon.