In your face - David Perrett

Pitched at the general reader, this book will seek both to introduce the field of facial perception and to challenge and provoke the thinking reader. After a brief introduction to evolutionary ideas and a comparative overview of the importance of faces for social and sexual interactions in animals the book will focus on the issues of human development, personality, health/lifestyle and mate choice in turn, highlighting the latest cutting-edge research, and encouraging people to look at themselves and others in an entirely new light. The final chapter will pull together the various strands of research covered in the book and investigate how this relates to the patterns and behaviours we see in modern society today, like the rise of cosmetic surgery and anti-aging interventions, the 'halo' effect that good looks can bring in terms of job prospects and promotions, and how one can potentially compensate for any apparent deficiencies in physical appearance. What makes a face attractive? Why are we attracted to certain faces and not others? In this highly readable account from the frontiers of psychology, the author explains how the human face evolved and how our perceptions of the face affect our judgments of others' personality, health, trustworthiness, and suitability as a friend or lover. In our daily lives, in our memories and fantasies, our mental worlds overflow with faces. But what do we really know about this most remarkable feature of the human body? Why do we have faces at all, and brains that are good at reading them? What do our looks say - and not say - about our personalities?

And perhaps the most compelling question of all: Why are we attracted to some faces more than others? 'In Your Face' is an engaging and authoritative tour of the science of facial beauty and face perception.

David Perrett, the pre-eminent scholar in the field, reveals and interprets the most remarkable findings and in the process demolishes many popular myths, setting the record straight on what neuroscience and evolutionary psychology are teaching us about beauty. The record is more surprising and often more unsettling than you might think.