Nancy Etcoff Explained

Nancy Etcoff (born 1955) is an American psychologist and researcher at Harvard University. Etcoff has maintained a private practice in psychology, and taught classes about the mind, brain, behavior, and aesthetics at Harvard Medical School. Etcoff is best known for her 1999 book Survival of the Prettiest: the Science of Beauty arguing for a biological basis for beauty linked to evolutionary psychology.

Education

Etcoff earned her B.A from Brown University. She initially studied comparative literature before switching her major to psychology.[1] She received an M.Ed. from Harvard University and earned her Ph.D. in psychology at Boston University. After this, she completed her postdoctoral fellowship in brain and cognitive sciences at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Work and research

Etcoff is an associate professor of Harvard Medical School and works as a psychologist at the Massachusetts General Hospital.[2] Etcoff serves as the director of the Psychiatric Neuroimaging Laboratories Program in Aesthetics and Well-Being, and is on the advisory board of the Peabody Essex Museum.[3]

Psychology of beauty and happiness

Etcoff teaches seminars in neuroaesthetics. In her 1999 book Survival of the Prettiest: the Science of Beauty,[4] she rejects the notion of beauty as a cultural construct, an invention of the fashion industry, or a backlash against feminism. Instead Etcoff argues that human beauty perception is a biological artefact derived from evolutionary genetic pressure. This book was the basis of a one-hour Discovery Channel episode.[5] Etcoff has made many appearances in mainstream US media on the subject of beauty including the New York Times and Good Morning America.[6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] Etcoff has given a TED talk "Happiness and Its Surprises", and appeared on NPR's TED Radio Hour.[20] [21] Etcoff's definitions of human happiness have been reported by Harvard Medical Magazine.[22]

Scientific publications

In 2017, Etcoff was co-author of Zen and the Art of Living Mindfully: The Health-Enhancing Potential of Zen Aesthetics.[23] She has 15 earlier publications, primarily on facial expressions and facial attractiveness, listed at Medline.[24]

Personal life

Etcoff was born in 1955.[25] Etcoff was married to the cognitive psychologist Steven Pinker from 1980 to 1992.[26]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Beauty and the Brain: The Emerging Field of Neuroaesthetics Arts The Harvard Crimson. Pak. Faith A.. Reichsman. Ethan B.. www.thecrimson.com. en. 2019-03-19. November 10, 2017.
  2. Web site: Harvard Medical School Directory. Harvard Medical School.
  3. Web site: Psychiatric Neuroimaging Division - Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA. www.massgeneral.org. 2019-03-03.
  4. Book: Etcoff, Nancy L.. Survival of the prettiest: the science of beauty. 1999-02-16. Doubleday. en. 9780385478540.
  5. Web site: Nancy Etcoff Edge.org. www.edge.org. en. 2019-03-03.
  6. Web site: Makeup Can Provide a Fleeting Confidence Boost to Some. www.nytimes.com. en. 2019-03-03.
  7. News: MIRROR, MIRROR; Biologically Speaking, Isn't She Beautiful?. Green. Penelope. 1999-02-28. The New York Times. 2019-03-03. en-US. 0362-4331.
  8. News: The Beautiful People. Lehrman. Karen. Karen Lehrman Bloch. 1999-03-21. The New York Times. 2019-03-03. en-US. 0362-4331.
  9. News: Does Reality Sell Beauty?. Branch. Shelly. 2005-05-19. Wall Street Journal. 2019-03-03. Ball. Deborah. en-US. 0099-9660.
  10. Web site: Survival of the Prettiest. EW.com. en. 2019-03-03.
  11. Web site: The Biology Of Beauty. 1996-06-02. Newsweek. en. 2019-03-03.
  12. News: How to Love That Woman in the Mirror. Oprah.com. 2019-03-03. en-us.
  13. Web site: This Dove Report Reveals Shocking Results About Women's Body Confidence. Allen. Maya. 2016-06-23. Cosmopolitan. en-US. 2019-03-03.
  14. Web site: Adventures in Makeup. Gutierrez. Claire. 2012-03-05. ELLE. en-US. 2019-03-03.
  15. Web site: The Truth About Beauty. Postrel. Virginia. 2007-03-01. The Atlantic. en-US. 2019-03-03.
  16. Web site: What's the New Statement Brow of the Moment? The Season's Best Options, from Bushy to Bleached. Vogue. 4 February 2015 . en. 2019-03-03.
  17. Web site: Why Every Skin-Care Brand Is Focusing on Face Wash Right Now. Allure. 3 April 2018 . en. 2019-03-03.
  18. Web site: Why Dove's 'Choose Beautiful' campaign sparked a backlash. Fortune. en. 2019-03-03.
  19. Web site: For Working Women, Focus On Beauty Erodes Self Confidence. Jacobs. Deborah L.. Forbes. en. 2019-03-03.
  20. Web site: Denis Dutton and Nancy Etcoff: Are We Hard-Wired for Beauty?. NPR.org. en. 2019-03-19.
  21. Web site: What Is Beauty?. NPR.org. en. 2019-03-19.
  22. Web site: The Contagion of Happiness Harvard Medicine magazine. hms.harvard.edu. 2019-03-19.
  23. Lomas. T.. Etcoff. N.. Van Gordon. W.. Shonin. E.. October 2017. Zen and the Art of Living Mindfully: The Health-Enhancing Potential of Zen Aesthetics. Journal of Religion and Health. 56. 5. 1720–1739. 10.1007/s10943-017-0446-5. 1573-6571. 28718052. 30739871.
  24. Web site: Pubmed.
  25. Web site: WorldCat.
  26. Web site: Steven Pinker. IMDb. 2020-01-21.

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