In Your Face: The New Science of Human Attraction

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 why do we have faces at all, and brains that are good at reading them? And 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 preeminent 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.

"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.

Introduction Fish Face: A Brief Tour of the Face and its Origins Seeing Faces: How we Recognize Faces and Why we Like Them A Baby's Bias: How we are Attracted to Faces from Birth Beauty in Balance: The Proportions that Really are Universally Attractive His and Hers: How Sex Hormones Influence our Looks and our Attraction to Others The Point of Beauty: Why Facial Attractiveness Matters in the Long Run Fit Face: How our Health is Reflected in our Faces Wither the Face: On the Cuteness of Babies and the Effects of Time Faces with Attitude: How the Personality we Seek in a Partner Guides our Face Tastes All in the Family: How Parents and Peers Shape our Attraction to Faces Love Potions: Transforming Attraction to Love Epilogue

DAVID PERRETT is an internationally recognized leader in the field of face perception and the study of human attractiveness. His work has appeared in the most prestigious scientific journals and is often featured in the popular press around the world. As a professor and head of the Perception Lab at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, he has trained many of the most promising young researchers in the field. Perrett 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.