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Face reading for profit
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June 11, 1998: 11:15 a.m. ET
Psychological technique claims to reveal character through facial features
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ATLANTA - We're told to evaluate people based on their actions, their convictions and their experience. But a new communications technique is encouraging managers to judge a book by its cover or, in the case of employees and other human beings, their faces.
The idea can be disturbing. What if the person interviewing you for a potential job doesn't like your eyebrows, even if she liked your resume? You can rewrite the resume, but many job seekers would balk at plucking their eyebrows.
"These are all the reasons besides your resume that I'm offering you the job," Ann Marks, who hires counselors to do job placement for major corporations, tells an applicant. "You have a little arch in your eyebrow and that means you like to be mentally in control."
"Your chin tells me, basically, you're going to be able to take it," she adds.
People interviewed by Marks have no idea their looks are a part of the hiring process until she tells one applicant that his nose tells her that he likes to work alone, while a straight chin indicates an idealist or lines on the forehead show compassion.
One guru of the application of face reading -- or "personology" -- to business management is lawyer and public speaker Mac Fulfer, whose book, Amazing Face Reading, claims to reveal the clues our inner characters leave on our faces. And a growing number of high-powered managers are taking notice.
"Eyebrows signal our mental thoughts," is but one of his pronouncements. "The shape of the eyebrow also tells you how the person is most comfortable in framing their world. Round eyebrows are people whose mental focus is people oriented. Straight eyebrows are people who need the facts. Angled eyebrows are people who want to stay mentally in control."
You may be arching your own eyebrows in skepticism, but Fulfer says he has reason to believe the technique works. He's a trial lawyer who learned to read faces in order to get an edge in jury selection.
"One of the things I learned in practicing law for 20 years is the least reliable information we get from people is what comes out of their mouths," he says. "So the value in this comes in being able to look at someone, and know immediately, 'okay, this person is defensive,' or 'this person is so stubborn they're not going to change their minds.'"
"What I have seen happen is the people who have taken the time to learn face reading have learned a new language," he adds.
Management seminars
Personology may sound like some New Age fad, but companies like MCI, GE and American Airlines have hosted Fulfer's management seminars.
At Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) Airport, management is investigating the potential of face reading as a way to improve corporate communications. Fulfer gave the top leaders of one of the world's busiest airports their first lesson on how to read a face.
"Here's what I want you to do," Fulfer begins. "Look at Alvie . . . he's got this moustache, you know, which is, 'I'm no wuss, you know, hey I'm macho . . . I'm tough.'"
Next he turns to another subject. "Let's try Michael for a second. Look how large his nostrils are . . . so he comes from a space of emotional abundance."
Kathy Fragnoli, attorney mediator, explains that these major corporations are exploring such an unorthodox technique because every bit of information helps.
"I think we have to look at the number of lawsuits that are filed every year, for such things such as sexual harassment, race discrimination -- there's such an explosion in those type cases," she says.
Employee lawsuits are one of the fastest-growing areas of litigation, costing companies an average of $96,000 per case. Fragnoli hired Fulfer because she's often brought in by companies like DFW Airport to help avoid such costly disputes.
"As a mediator, if I can look at someone's face and try to understand where they're stressed or how I think they, what motivates them or how they tick, then I'll be able to work with them better," she says.
Three famous faces
Fulfer tested his skills on some famous faces, attempting to analyze the character traits of various celebrities based on only a few isolated features.
Politics
"Interesting thing about this forehead, this is a person that can take a problem and even if it seemed overwhelming to other people can break it down into smaller parts and say, 'OK, here' s how to do it'."
"I see a little bit of teeth in this one. Holds himself to impossibly high standards, hates being wrong."
[Who is this?]
Hollywood
"Some of those line here are kind of interesting. Haven't seen enough of it yet, but those are courage lines, on the personal side, they faced some things that felt overwhelming."
[Who is this?]
Sports
"We see jowls here. A person who's comfortable exercising power and authority. Incredible stamina. Once they lock on they're like bulldogs -- they don't let go, they're absolutely going for it."
[Who is this?]
Window to the soul?
On the other hand, face reading has taken it on the chin from critics.
"This reminds me of astrology. It also has some similarities to what you see on late night TV when they're advertising psychics," says Leslie Zebrowitz, a Brandeis University psychology professor who has written her own book on the subject, Reading Faces: Window to the Soul?
"As a scientist, I am very interested in the subject of what we can learn about people from their face," she says. "I think it is possible we can learn a little bit, but I think it is unlikely that we can learn enough that I would like to rely on that when I am hiring someone, rather than relying on how they performed in their last job, what they tell me in their interview."
According to the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission, there's nothing illegal about hiring people according to their face. The law prohibits discrimination based on race, sex, ethnic or religious background, but says nothing about eyebrows.
"The fact that there is no scientific evidence to support the claim that this man did not have the energy for the job, for example, makes me find it disturbing that it would be legal to deny him the job on those grounds," cautions Zebrowitz. "I find it appalling." 
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