butpeopledo

Have you ever been told, "You should never judge
a book by its cover!”? Here is something you may
want to consider; people DO judge a book by its
cover, and more importantly, they judge you by
your cover.

My life is like one giant research project, as I am
literally compelled to engage myself in the usage of
cool things about human behavior that I discover.
For about a year now, I have been having a ball
noting the behavior of those I interact with when it
comes to facial hair. I may or may not have a
goatee at any given time, and this has proved very
interesting indeed. Of course I already knew what
the research showed, about trust and facial hair,
but as Ken Robert's says," Find out for yourself",
and I tend to agree with that approach. How many
political figures do you see with facial hair? There
is a reason; people tend to (on an unconscious
level) distrust those with facial hair.

I have found the difference in the way people
respond to me when I am shaven, as opposed to
having a goatee, nothing short of amazing. Clearly,
people behave in a way that is favorable for most
of the interactions you will have with them when
you have no facial hair. But I now want to show you
some research that should absolutely turn your
beliefs about the importance of appearances
upside down.

Dr. Andrew Harrell, from the University of Alberta
has shown that attractive kids are physically
abused and murdered less often by their Mothers
than unattractive kids. Just as shocking was the
fact that only 1.2% of the least attractive children
were buckled in their car seats, while 13.3 % of the
attractive children were strapped in for safety!

You can find the rest of this study online, but the
point is clear; if physical attractiveness influences
parents to treat their OWN children differently, then
we cannot pretend that its power is anything less
than astonishing.

The clothes we wear, the style of our hair, (or in my
case the lack of it) our posture, our voice tone,
gestures, etc, all help create the frame that "tells
others who we are." So, forget about debating
whether it's fair or not....that is not relevant. The
fact is that people do in fact judge us by our
appearance (and we judge others this way as well),
and we all have a say in how others will perceive
us, by the decisions we make about how to "frame"
ourselves.

Take some time this week and notice how much
what people wear influences the way you respond
to them, it will amaze you. But if you really want to
have fun, go out of town and go into a jewelry store
in your best suit or "nice clothes." Just walk in a
take note of how you are treated. Now, go back a
couple of weeks later in old jeans, an old ratty T-
shirt, and without any makeup, or cologne, and
once again, notice how you are treated. If it is
anything like the experiments I have conducted,
you will never again doubt the power of your
appearance. I'd love to hear about any
experiences you have had with this.

© Copyright 2007 Vincent Harris. All rights reserved