by claire coshan

Created on: March 31, 2009

People say that it is a sad fact that we live in a society that puts such a great deal of emphasis on the way we look, and it is, but people have judged others on their appearance for a very long time.

Cesare Lombroso (1835 1909) devised a theory that your personality and character could be identified by your physical appearance. He believed that criminals and those with a potentially violent nature could be spotted by

A low sloping brow and prominent forehead

Handle shaped ears

Large prominent chins

Beady, close set eyes

Baldness

A flattened or upturned nose.

Of course these theories have been widely discredited in the psychological world, but many of the elements still remain.

Numerous studies throughout recent years have shown that people respond better to people that they think are attractive. Participants in the studies showed a significantly more positive response to those with big eyes, a small nose and full lips. The participants trusted these people, despite the fact that they knew nothing about them, this test has been given the tongue in cheek name of "the ugly factor"

People trust those with big eyes, small noses and full lips as they are child like features. They give someone an air of innocence and vulnerability, thus making people feel safe with them. Studies show that women and men will feel safe with these people as they do not see them as a threat.

However, when faced with people different to this, people with close set eyes, crooked noses, small lips and facial hair, the participants reacted very differently. The women stated that they felt "threatened by their presence" and the men showed increased levels of adrenaline.

Even if we try not to judge people by the way they look, we assume things about them. For example, the 27-year-old girl dressed all in pink, with impeccable make up and perfect hair, we might assume that she is a bimbo, that she thinks about nothing but her hair and make up. We don't know her, she could be perfectly intelligent, she might be a lawyer or a doctor.

If you don't think you do assume anything, think about this example, two men are walking towards you, one is fairly short, clean shaven, nice suit and fairly slender. The other is a large, broad shouldered man with stubble and tattoos, who are you going to trust more.

The small man of course, we assume (often wrongly) people like the second man are a threat to our safety. For some reason we assume that the first man would not hurt us, and the second man will.

In the United Kingdom, there is a particular group of people that are seen as a threat even though they are young, clean-shaven and even female. These people are called "hoodies" " or "chavs". These terms relate to any young people that wear hooded tops and hang around in a group. People assume that they will start trouble that they will pick a fight, or steal from a shop, they are even ordered by the police not to hang around in groups of their friends. They do not know even one of these children, but they will assume that they are criminals, that they are good for nothing thieves.

There is a sociological theory called "the self fulfilling prophecy", it simply means that whatever people say or believe will eventually cause itself to become true. For example, if you treat the bald man with the piercings like he is a criminal and a dangerous person, then he will eventually think that he is a dangerous criminal. He may try to convince people that he is not, but when they don't believe him, he will give up. He gives up trying to prove them wrong and decides that he should prove them right. Think about that the next time you judge someone because o the way they look.

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