원광디지털대학교

Everybody has an interest in his or her own face. As faces look different, so do their impressions.

Facial impressions are a reflection of one’s mind. Faces are a barometer of life which indicates what to do more and what to do less for a happy life. So, it pays to be able to read faces.

So says Joo Sun-hee, 49, of Wonkwang Digital University, the nation’s first physiognomy professor. She teaches face reading and management of facial impressions.

“A face contains the trace and nature of one’s life. It is a gateway to understanding a person. A good-looking face is the first stepping stone to a happy life,” she told The Korea Herald in a recent interview.

Joo earned her doctoral degree from Kyunghee University in 2004 for her comparative study of Eastern and Western physiognomies and facial impression management. Today she is busy lecturing on and off campus.

“Facial impression management is mind management,” she said. “Conscious and systematic efforts to change one’s mind in the positive direction is necessary for a better life because a good-looking face actually gives benefits.”

A U.S. study shows that a baby-faced person is less likely to be convicted of an intentional crime and more likely to be convicted of a negligent crime. Another study shows that a person with a good-looking face is more likely to get a pay raise. “A good-looking face of an employee is construed as being competent,” she explained.

“Facial features and impressions are determined by much used muscles, which are affected by thoughts and emotions. So, they indicate what the person is like. If we are able to read our faces and manage our features for the better, we could slowly change our lives.”

As two most important facial features to watch, she cited tone and elasticity. A face reflects how well internal organs function, so a healthy tone means peace of mind and a happy life.

The more elastic a face looks, the better. An elastic face is the opposite of a sagging one. If a person whines or is discontented, facial muscles droop, reducing elasticity.

“When a person welcomes a close friend or smiles or laughs, his eyes and lips slant upwards at the edge, raising muscles and their elasticity as well,” Joo said. “As you know, a person’s eyes open wide to see a close friend after a long time.”

To sum up, the face of a person who feels at ease looks healthy in tone and elasticity, which is a result of healthy life. “So, judges tend to give reduced sentences to suspects with healthy and elastic faces, because their faces look good-natured. A company is likely to evaluate employees with nice facial impressions highly and give them a raise,” she said.

Surveys found that respondents, when they are shown inmates’ faces, replied they all look bad, while they answered when shown volunteer workers that their faces made good impressions. “Inmates’ faces sag over time because they rarely laugh. The surveys mean facial beauty has nothing to do with facial impression,” she said. “A handsome actor may be hated if he plays a merciless villain.”

Prof. Joo Sun-hee of Wonkwang Digital University, the nation’s first physiognomy Ph.D., speaks about facial impressions in a recent interview with The Korea Herald. Ahn Hoon/The Korea Herald.