In Your Face: New Science Of Human Attraction, The

Description: What makes a face attractive? Why are we attracted to certain faces and not others? In this fascinating and exuberant account from the frontiers of science, David Perrett, a winner of the prestigious Golden Brain award and one of the world's foremost experts in face perception, and Louise Barrett, an evolutionary psychologist, tell the amazing story of where the human face came from, and how our perceptions of the face affect the way we judge an individual's personality, health, trustworthiness, and suitability as a friend or lover.Revealing some truly eye-opening new findings that will change the way you see your own face and those of everyone around you, the authors explore provocative questions and sometimes unsettling facts: How much does facial symmetry really matter? Why do masculine-looking babies commonly grow up to behave like "masculine" adults? Why do so many people at age 50 really have the face they deserve? Why doesn't plastic surgery actually erase the years?


Review:
'Let's face it. David Perrett has written a truly compelling book. Chock full of science, but reader-friendly and entertaining. Now I have a new perspective on my own crooked smile and have learned many other fascinating things related to faces. Highly recommended.' Professor Joseph LeDoux, author of The Emotional Brain and Synaptic Self. 'An engaging revelation of the biology and psychology behind facial beauty, but be warned: In Your Face may reveal some surprising truths about why we are attracted to others.' Bruce Hood, author of SuperSense and Professor of Experimental Psychology at the University of Bristol.

Table of Contents:
Introduction 1 Fish face: A brief tour of the face and its origins 2 Seeing faces: How we recognize faces and why we like them 3 A baby's bias: How we are attracted to faces from birth 4 Beauty in balance: The proportions that really are universally attractive 5 His and hers: How sex hormones influence our looks and our attraction to others 6 The point of beauty: Why facial attractiveness matters in the long run 7 Fit face: How our health is reflected in our faces 8 Wither the face: On the cuteness of babies and the effects of time 9 Faces with attitude: How the personality we seek in a partner guides our face tastes 10 All in the family: How parents and peers shape our attraction to faces 11 Love potions: Transforming attraction to love Epilogue

Author Biography:
DAVID PERRETT is Professor of Psychology at the University of St Andrews and currently holds a British Academy Wolfson Research Professorship to work on the perception of health in faces. He received the 'Golden Brain' award for his discoveries about the way the brain processes faces and pioneered the use of computer graphics to study the perception of facial attributes such as beauty, health and personality. He is the editor of Processing the Facial Image and Brain Mechanisms for Perception and Memory: From Neuron to Behaviour.