Many people say that they don't care what other people think of them. That's great! However, they are also probably lying. Without an abnormal psychological personality disorder it is human nature to care or at least wonder what other people think of you. The main reason people claim that they do not care is because they know that people are getting the wrong first impression, or that they themselves don't fully understand what impression they give. These individuals have given up trying to change people's opinions about them, hence the "not caring".
First impressions last a very long time, and no matter how hard someone tries not to judge or jump to conclusions it is very difficult when you are sporting a crazy hair-do. Classmates, friends of friends, and employers all use first impressions in order to put all of the new people surrounding them into a category. Sometimes these first impressions can cost someone a job or make the first days of classes very awkward and unwelcoming.
I'm not saying that anyone has to fit a certain mold or act a certain way; I'm just saying that everyone needs to be aware of what type of vibe or impressions they are giving off to those around them. Most people do not even realize that they seem unapproachable, slutty, socially awkward, geeky...
These stereotypes and labels can come from a wide array of factors such as body position, clothing choice, facial expressions, and many others. All of these factors seem very specific and picky, but they are the subtle things that people pick out in order to help them feel like they know you or understand you. It's inevitable. People are going to gain an impression of you, good or bad, the first time they even lay eyes on you.
So just be sure that the things that you are doing, or not doing, are what you want to be remembered by when someone thinks of you.
You have no idea how true this is, many so many people around the world will look at a person once and decide whether or not they like them. We all know this is not justified, but we do it anyway. You take the person in the posting picture for example. I know of numerous people, myself included, who would look at this person as they come into a job interview and would immediately discard anything they said from hence point on. Even though this person could be the best fit for the job I would overlook them and choose the next in line. No matter what happens, now or in the future, I believe first impressions will play a very key role in society and how it functions
ReplyDeleteI think everyone knows just how real this issue is. I figured this out first hand back in the days of high school. I rarely had friends in my classes, and not being that outgoing myself, I tended to sit by myself and read or what not before classes started. Because of this people would rarely approach me or even sit near me for that matter. Although I wondered why because the brave few that did talk to me always ended up liking me and being friend with me. I later found out by some of those made friends that I came off as extremely moody, dark, unsociable, and weird. Based on my haircut and minimal use of eyeliner, I was even deemed an emo depsite the fact that my clothing choices and true personality contradicted this immensely. Since then I have tried to be more open, and yet I still fail to make that good friendly first impression because people dismiss quiet as being mean these days.
ReplyDeleteSo, having been through the annoyance first hand I have tried to stop judging people harshly on first impressions. Although I now give them more of a chance to contradict their self image, as you stated, I still judge them firstly on looks. Is it wrong? Yes. Can we stop it? As you mentioned, not without a psychological disorder.
Excellent entry. I liked it. haha.I'm looking forward to your new ones.
I completely agree with this. As much as I try not to start judging someone off of a first impression I still find myself doing it a lot. When someone with crazy hair walks by or something, my brain just goes on by itself sometimes and throws them into a stereotype. It's something I try to stop myself from doing and I think that I will find myself in a better place when I do stop.
ReplyDeleteI am taking psychology right now and it's very interesting to know how the brain works. Knowing that it is a psychological problem is a good first step to understanding it and then eventually finding a way to fix it.
I think that you hit this right on the nose. I know that when I walk around campus, I tend to judge people, even when I don't know them. As much as I try not to do this, I think that it is inevitable. I know just yesterday, I was walking across Memorial Mall, and I saw a man wearing shorts, ang I thought to myself "Man, is this guy crazy or what? It's snowing." I'm sure a lot of people would have thought the same thing, but in all reality we have no idea why he was wearing the shorts. I think when we see something that is not normal behavior, something in our brain reacts to it, and we find ourselves judging the other person's behavior.
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