Personality 101: What does your physical appearance say about you?

When we first meet a person – we either consciously or subconsciously size them up – before they’ve even said a word. Sometimes, we can be bang on the money, and there are times we are ridiculously incorrect.

This is referred to as a cognitive bias. This refers to “tendencies to think in certain ways that can lead to systematic deviations from a standard of rationality or good judgment.” There are several cognitive biases across the spectrum. One such bias is called the ‘halo effect’.   Being human.org (not to be confused by Salman’s Khan’s brand), reports, “ that a person's positive qualities, physical appearance, and general attractiveness affects how we judge their character—the better they look and behave, the better a person we judge them to be.” The term halo effect was coined by psychologist Edward Thorndike in 1920.

 

So here are 5 things that your physical appearance says about:

 

Are you short?

 

Well, then you’re not perceived to be leader material. Tall people were seen as better leaders. Studies indicated that  “researchers found that people used factors in the photos like gender and face length to make guesses about people's height and then used these same factors when they judged their leadership qualities. Faces that appeared to belong to taller people were rated as belonging to better leaders,” according to Business Insider.
 

Look into my eyes: 
 

Those who had brown eyes were considered to be more trustworthy across both genders. Scientific Journal reports that, “A study published in the journal PLOS ONE researchers from Charles University in the Czech Republic had 238 participants rate the faces of 80 students for trustworthiness, attractiveness, and dominance. A much more peculiar correlation was discovered as they looked at the data: brown-eyed faces were deemed more trustworthy than blue-eyed ones.”

 

If the shoe fits:  
 

The type of shoes you wear regularly reveals a lot more than you give it credit for. People who preferred flats were considered to be more personable and agreeable, while those who wore heels, were apparently considered to be calm and zen-like (go figure).

 

Outfit colours match our mood:  
 

Turns out there’s some truth to the colours you wear to work or for a social get together. The colours you choose reflect your mood.

 

 

Let’s get lippy:      
 

If you’re lower lip is fuller than your upper lip, this indicates that you’re more of a pleasure-seeker, whereas if you upper lip is fuller than your lower lip, it means that you’re more of a giver.
 

Also read:  Unusual ingredients found in your lipstick