Reading Faces: Window To The Soul?

by Leslie A. Zebrowitz

Do we read character in faces? What information do faces actually provide? Why do we associate certain facial qualities with particular character traits? What are the social and psychological consequences of reading character in faces? Zebrowitz unmasks the face and provides the first systematic, scientific account of our tendency to judge people by their appearance. Offering an in-depth analysis of two appearance qualities that influence our impressions of others—“babyfaceness” and “attractiveness”—and an account of these impressions, Zebrowitz has written an accessible and valuable book for professionals and general readers alike.The assumption that people’s faces provide a window to their inner nature has a long and distinguished history, eloquently expressed in the works of ancient philosophers, like Aristotle, and great writers, like Shakespeare. Zebrowitz examines this assumption, focusing on four central points. She shows that facial appearance, particularly babyfaceness and attractiveness, has a strong impact on how we perceive an individual’s character traits and on social outcomes in the workplace, in the criminal justice system, and in other settings. She proposes that facial stereotypes derive from evolutionarily adaptive reactions to useful information that faces can provide. She assesses the accuracy of facial stereotypes in light of plausible links between appearance and character. Finally, Zebrowitz suggests ways to counteract the consequences of reading faces.

288 pages, Paperback

First published June 5, 1997

Reviews

[Hom Sack · Rating 5 out of 5]

Make me pay more attention to faces from now on with the help of a few new vocabulary words to describe them, e.g., Dolichocephaly and Brachycephaly.

[Jeff · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had been running my mouth about how a person's face reflects aspects of his or her personality for quite awhile and this book largely confirmed what I had been saying. However, it suffers from the same pitfall that all of these summary-of-studies books do: it skims the surface of suspect studies in an attempt to find meaningful trends, all the while leaving question marks in the wake; and those question marks begin to add up. Nonetheless, this is a good book summarizing the scientific evidence establishing relationship between personality and facial features and the related issue of perception and prejudices related to facial appearance.

If you want a how-to on how to "read" a face, look elsewhere.

[Carol · Rating 5 out of 5]

Compare this fascinating but shocking analysis of the power of attractive faces to Lucy Grealy's memoir of deformity.