Lets just say we are walking in a brand new shopping mall, what makes us want to enter a shop? And have anyone wondered why some clothes look fantastic when we try it at the store and not in our bedrooms?! To some extent, the way the shop looks does influence our idea of how the clothes look! Firstly, we enter the shop because we think that it look good and then, thinking that its good, we buy the clothes in the store. Although we are warned not to judge book by its cover, its seems like we are doing just that.
What is beauty to you?
Perhaps some of us will say that beauty includes both internal beauty and exterior beauty. And is internal beauty and exterior beauty really separate entities? Perhaps.
According to study done by Dion, Berscheid and Walster (1972), humans often judge others based on the notion that what is beautiful is good. We tend to believe that attractive people also have traits and talents that are just as attractive as how they look. I'm not saying that internal beauty isn't important, but exterior beauty does come to influence our judgment of one's internal beauty. There are many many studies that comfirmed this notion (refer to txt book) and one of the most obvious signs across society is how appearance influence court decision. During a trial, many suspect will spend extra effort to groom themselves and put on a nice suit. And thats not redundant. Of course, the strength of evidence still has the largest influence over the verdict, however, when the evidence are unclear, beauty does interfer with the final decision.
So, does looking good equates to better treatment? I have a personal story to share. At some point in my life, I was tipping over the scale at over 70kg. At that time, I really felt that the world was very cruel. I had incidents when I wasn't allow to try clothes in stores and some even told me that their store don't have my size when i just step into it! My relatives pass mean remarks at me and my parents, some classmates joke and laugh at my weight and even the hawker gave me 'the look' when I ordered more food!!! Horribe indeed. After i lost more then 10kg, things turn for the better. Its more enjoyable to attend relative reunion, no sales person will turn me down and people even praise me when I eat more! With that 10kg less, I don't think I have changed as a person. However, its clear how society treat people of different looks. When I was more unattractive, my self esteem was really low and the remarks from others made me felt bad as a person. Should a person be condem for their looks? With just a slight improvement, the world suddenly seems kinder! Besides more shopping, I even felt better about myself! Well, i really wonder what will happen if i lose another 10 more kg!
And thus, if you ask me whether beauty is important? It will surely be a solid yes.
3 comments:
hey, i agree with you!! beauty is definitely important to a large extent...
people who know each other well may start to appreciate each person's inner beauty. provided they want to get to know each other in the 1st place! many other social interactions may also be short-term and 1st impressions or external beauty will affect such interactions, since we all tend towards what looks good to us.
in societies where bigger sizes are valued, im sure there are poor women who are force-fed against their will!
first impression counts!! yes..that theory clearly stands. when a person is off the scale, they are "not wanted". 0.7 wanxin! nearly there! =D
yes totally agree with you. first impression really counts. that's what makes us want to know a person better.
research had also found that even babies look at attractive things. so what makes the adults any different?
but i'd like to say beauty lies in the eyes of beholder. everyone has a different perception of beauty but it definitely must be beautiful in the beholder's eyes first before he will want to know the other person better.
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