Sure, Beauty’s Superficial. But Impressions Go Much Deeper

You have heard the wise old sayings before: appearances can be deceptive, don’t judge a book by its cover, all that glitters is not gold, etc. Yet despite the age-old wisdom that looks aren’t everything, we still can’t help making judgments based on appearances.

For instance, when we first see someone our minds begin to form impressions of that person’s character from what we see of him/her (in this case, looks) while filling in the blanks with clever tricks and educated guesses. If that person happens to be attractive then those impressions are likely to be all good.
In comes the “halo effect”

People who are considered attractive tend to benefit from what is known as the ‘halo effect’. This happens when a people’s attractiveness is used by others who perceive it to make favorable judgments about character. People tend to assume good things about people who possessed something good about them that is clearly evident.

To benefit from this positive halo effect all you need to do is take better care of your appearance and how people see you: adopt better grooming habits, dress well, improve your posture, work out, etc. Your outward appearance can be the thing that makes someone want to get close enough to you to appreciate your inner beauty.

“Therefore, forming these impressions about people based on their appearance seems inescapable.”

Appearances always count

We can’t help it because before we get a chance to appreciate any inner beauty a person may have, it’s the outward beauty or lack of, that we see first, from which our minds form our initial judgments. Therefore, these impressions about people based on their appearance seem inescapable.

Also as undoing negative first impressions takes some doing it won’t hurt pay attention to the outward.

“Research suggests that your appearance affects how trustworthy, promiscuous, and powerful people think you are.”

CAVEAT:

Just as Americans sound another warning, beauty is still only skin deep, my Ghanaian friend also related to me an old African adage advising, you still need to bathe even if you are beautiful!

The prescription is that one shouldn’t rely on outward appearances alone to get by. One needs to still imbibe good qualities and develop good relationships with people to support any initial favorable assumptions.

“Appearance can be the thing that makes someone want to get close enough to you to appreciate your inner beauty.”

Even though humans generally can’t escape making judgments based on appearance, making it solely based on appearance is where the folly lies. Character is more important

“Outer beauty turns heads, but inner beauty turns hearts.” -Helen J. Russell

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Previously Published on medium

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