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European Faces

We all make snap judgements about people based on relatively little information. When you see someone despite trying not to it is very hard not to judge a book by it is cover. We all make snap decisions and decide that someone is ‘bookish’ because they have glasses or stoic because they have an iron cast jaw. However there are few times we do this as much as when we’re trying to identify race and culture and many of us think that we can identify race and culture in Europe quickly based on European faces. Is it possible then to spot European faces and to identify their country of origin? Do they really have such distinguishable features?

Nazis in Nazi Germany certainly thought so, and in fact measured European faces for various dimensions to try and identify their race, culture and various other aspects of their personality. While this extreme level of prejudice is of course un-scientific and harmful, future studies have demonstrated on occasion that our facial features can give details away about ourselves and that yes, European faces can suggest countries of origin. This is of course apart from anything else a reflection on the fact that residents of each country are more likely to have children with other residents of that country. Even when there is a nearby boarder, things like culture and language barriers encourage residents to find romantic partners within their country to a larger degree. Over time this of course leads to certain features becoming prominent and creates the European faces we’re familiar with.

For example, the typical French European faces (at least according to the stereotype) will have thin noses and brown/dark hair. On the other hand, the ‘typical’ European faces associated with Germany tend to have more sloped foreheads, pointed noses and blond hair. In England the facial features are thought to be loner and the hair often more foppish, while European faces from Slavonic European countries (such as Poland) should have stern jaws and wider noses. Wide noses are also often associated with European faces from Greece. Of course any Eastern European faces from Turkey and other hot countries can usually be identified by their tan.

All this means that it is possible to ‘look’ French or German and that we all feel we can spot European faces. In fact one German car manufacturer even ran a competition recently to find the ‘most German’ face for one of their car ads. Of course in reality though there are many many people who break out of the stereotypes for European faces, and at the same time the countries are too big as a rule to even suppose that there might not be more regional looks too. At the same time the way the world is closing in with advancements in communication and travel means that we are more likely to meet people abroad and even settle in other countries creating more diverse bloodlines and looks. As such it is really possible to tell where someone’s from with any certainty, but it can be fun to guess!