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.
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.[1] 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][5] Etcoff has given a TED talk "Happiness and Its Surprises",[20] and appeared on NPR's TED Radio Hour.[21][22] Etcoff's definitions of human happiness have been reported by Harvard Medical Magazine.[23]
Scientific publications
In 2017, Etcoff was co-author of Zen and the Art of Living Mindfully: The Health-Enhancing Potential of Zen Aesthetics.[24] She has 15 earlier publications, primarily on facial expressions and facial attractiveness, listed at Medline.[25]
Personal life
Etcoff was born in 1955.[26] Etcoff was married to the cognitive psychologist Steven Pinker from 1980 to 1992.[27]
