The ratio between a subject’s body to face in an image can change the perceived meaning of the image. That ratio is called face-ism, and is measured on a scale of low (an image without a face) to high (an image of only a face). When shown an image with high face-ism the user will focus on the subject’s intellect and personality more than a full-body or low-faceism image..
Source: UPoD
Source: UPoD
This is an example of what participants in a study drew when asked to draw a female and a male. The study found that men were typically drawn with detailed and larger faces, while the form of the woman was given more emphasis than her face as drawn by both men and women.
“Face-ism” by Dane Archer and Debra Kimes and Michael Barrios http://www.uic.edu.hk/~jkulrich/english/reading/faceism.pdf
Source: Original Photo, back to back spreads in a magazine
We are all very quick to judge, a face-ism is a great example of that. If there is no body to focus, one ‘must’ consider other attributes. This video shows how face-ism can be adjusted even within a face.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hibyAJOSW8U