All that can be said about you in your face

We - more than just a face. It turns out, its shape, size and even color can give very important information about the properties of our personal, health and even beauty. David Robson examines it yavlenie.



It can be assumed that the great philosophers looked through the appearance of the person directly in his soul, but the ancient Greek thinkers, on the other hand, were very interested in the appearance of others. Aristotle and his followers even made a list of features, which make it easy to see how our appearance reflects the state of our spirit, for example, soft hair indicate cowardice, coarse hair - on courage, they believed.

Psychologists have found that our face like a window, through which you can see our most intimate secrets h4> About arrogance, as it is written in the treatise, say "bright open eyes with heavy bloodshot eyelids ". A broad nose as people and cattle, was a sign of laziness. Sensual fleshy lips not too lucky. Philosophers have considered them a sign of stupidity, "like a donkey", but those who had very thin lips, regarded as proud as lions.

Today, we are taught not to judge a book by its cover. However, psychologists have found that our face like a window through which you can see our most intimate secrets. Even if you keep a poker face, some of its features could tell a lot of information about your personality, health and level of intelligence.

Aggressive structure of the face h2> «The idea is that our biology, genes and hormone levels affect our development. The same mechanism will be formed, and our character, "- explains Carmen Lefёvr from Northumbria University.

After analyzing the structure of the facial bones, Lefёvr found that men with high testosterone levels are usually massive cheekbones, and the nature of their assertive and sometimes aggressive.

The relationship between the shape of the face and dominant behavior is very common, both among animals - the wider the face capuchin monkeys, the more likely that it will take a higher position in the hierarchy of the group - and among professional football players.

Having studied the World Cup in 2010, Keith Welker University of Boulder in Colorado, found that the ratio of the width and height of individual players affects both the number of fouls among the midfielders and the number of goals scored by strikers.

To calculate this ratio by yourself, just compare the distance from ear to ear with the distance from a point between the eyes to the upper lip. The average ratio of width to height is two. And Abraham Lincoln, for example, it was 1, 93.

Perhaps this ratio - the key to the explanation of behavior of a politician.

Lefёvr used volunteers, asking them to evaluate some of the psychological parameters of former US presidents. As a result, it is found that seems to form the face reflects the ambitions of the people. Naturally, this analysis of historical figures should be taken with a certain skepticism as to achieve success, and other important characteristics, such as intelligence and the ability to cooperate.

Plump cheeks h2> As expected, your health and your medical history is also written on your face. And recorded a surprisingly detailed. For example, the amount of fat on your face - a more reliable indicator of your fitness than body mass index.

People with thinner faces suffer fewer infections, and if they fall ill, the disease is not too hard. More such people have lower levels of anxiety and depression - probably because mental condition is often associated with general physical human form.

Why is the fullness of the cheeks can tell so much about you? Benedict Jones of the University of Glasgow said that the answer to this question will be able to a new understanding of the role of fat in our body. "About how you are healthy, says not only how much fat you have, but also where the fat is located," - he said.

People are pear-shaped, whose weight is concentrated in the area of ​​the hips, but with a slender torso, tend to be healthier than people who accumulate fat in the abdomen and sides. It is believed that fatty tissue in this area highlights the special molecules that trigger inflammation of internal organs.

"Maybe the fullness of our face reflects body fat in the most dangerous parts of the body - said Jones - or it may be that the fat on the face for any reason dangerous in itself».

In addition to these, quite overt signs of many health can tell, very subtle differences in skin color. Lefёvr and Jones emphasize that this has nothing to do with ethnicity, man, this subtle shades reflecting differences in lifestyles.

Your health is stronger, if the skin is a little yellowish, almost golden. Pigments, which are now in question are called carotenoids, and, as the name implies, can be found in fruits and vegetables red and orange colors.

"Carotenoids help us to build a healthy immune system - says Lefёvr. - But when we eat too many of them, they are deposited in the skin, making it slightly yellowish. This is a "healthy glow", in turn, makes a significant contribution to our physical attractiveness ».

A pink skin tone indicates good blood circulation, which comes complete with an active lifestyle. Furthermore, women may be a sign of good fertility. Jones found that women's skin becomes a little redder than at the peak of the menstrual cycle. Perhaps this is because under the action of estradiol, hormone, blood vessels in the cheeks slightly expanded.

Smart view h2> As Jones points out, all of these secrets were always in sight. We just took the time to discover them. At least, this knowledge helps to restore the reputation of physiognomy, which began to lose popularity in the time of Aristotle.

But King Henry VIII Tudor is so skeptical of physiognomy, that at one time even banned professoram- "quacks" from the science to make a profit for the reading of his lectures. Now the credibility of the discipline increases again, so that we can find a lot more surprises lurking in our self.

It is interesting that we seem to be able to have an idea about the intelligence of man, look at his face, but it is still unclear exactly what signs make people sound smart. And, of course, everything is much more complicated than the presence or absence of points.

And yet we can in a split second to determine the orientation of the person, even without any stereotypical hints. But how do we do it - is still a mystery.

Perhaps further research will be able to explain exactly how we make such a quick judgment.

It will also be interesting to know whether there is a link between personal characteristics, lifestyle, appearance and longevity.

We can not change our hormones and our genes. But with the development of our personality and sense of self-worth, our faces begin to reflect something more important h4> In one experiment, the relationship between the properties of the individual and appearance. The experiment went from 1930 to 1990. The researchers found that although men with children's facial features are not particularly dominant at a young age, but with age they became insistent. Perhaps because they have learned to compensate expectations of their "puppy" persons.

More interesting is that the authors of the experiment found evidence of "the effect of Dorian Gray" where an aging person begins to reflect certain aspects of personality that are not so obvious, when people were younger.

If a woman with a young age and before the thirtieth were sociable and attractive, after the thirtieth anniversary of their physical attractiveness increased even more, so that at 50 they can look even better compared to young women.

Perhaps these women just know how to make the most of their appearance and their inner confidence manifested in facial features.

Finally, in our appearance we have something more substantial than the bone structure of the face and skin tone. This fact is clearly demonstrated another recent study.

The experts asked subjects to wear their favorite clothes, and then take a picture of your face. Despite the fact that the clothes on the photographs was not visible, impartial judges noted that these photos were much more attractive in comparison with other photos of subjects. This finding is even more striking when one considers the fact that the subjects in the experiment were asked to keep a straight face. In spite of this increased self-esteem subjects literally shone through this detachment.

Our faces - is not just a product of our biology. We can not change our hormones and our genes. But with the development of our personality and sense of self-worth, our faces begin to reflect something more important.

via www.bbc.com/future/story/20150312-what-the-face-betrays-about-you