Iain Hutchison on What's In A Face? At 5x15

Add this video
to your playlist

Iain Hutchison on What's In A Face? At 5x15

20 Sep 2010

Speakers: Iain Hutchison

Warning: Viewers may find some of the content of this presentation disturbing. Please view at your own discretion.

Professor Hutchison talks about the human face as both a structural and functional entity, and about the vital role it plays in determining our financial, psychological, and emotional potential.

Our facial expressions, he says, are a social signalling mechanism - the expressions we adopt are determined by how we wish to present ourselves to the world, and influence how we are perceived by those around us. We may not see it that way, but that is because we do not see ourselves - that is, visually: in the mirror, in photographs, etc. - as others do. Nevertheless, there is a proven overlap between how those with facial deformities believe others see them, and how they are judged by their peers. Affected individuals feel that they look not only less attractive, but less intelligent, less honest, and less friendly. Empirical evidence suggests that they are correct in these assumptions.

As judgements about people we see for the first time are made in roughly one-tenth of a second, reconstructive surgery often leads to massive leaps in financial, psychological, and emotional potential. And whilst we may think, Professor Hutchison argues, that the West has an unhealthy, superficial fixation with the face, this preoccupation is in fact common to all cultures.

But we must nevertheless remember that, despite its importance, the face is not the sole determinant of our happiness, contentment, and success. Technical advances in surgical techniques can only take us so far - psychologists are crucial in ensuring that the patients, not simply the surgeons, are happy with the outcome of their operation.