# Facial Features affect how you feel and treat others?



## Happy (Oct 10, 2008)

Do facial features affect how you feel and treat others? Please be honest as possible.:laughing:


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## DayLightSun (Oct 30, 2008)

Yes! 
Once I thought I was smelly.
But then he said no I burped and it was smelly. rofl


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## Happy (Oct 10, 2008)

DayLightSun said:


> Yes!
> Once I thought I was smelly.
> But then he said no I burped and it was smelly. rofl


Weh Wah??!!


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## DayLightSun (Oct 30, 2008)

He made a face of disgust.
I thought I smelled like bad alcohol.
But it turned out that he burped and he smelled his own breath and it was bad.
I thought it was me.
But it was not. 
I was still nice to him.
I wanted to be a P in the whole situation.


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## Happy (Oct 10, 2008)

DayLightSun said:


> He made a face of disgust.
> I thought I smelled like bad alcohol.
> But it turned out that he burped and he smelled his own breath and it was bad.
> I thought it was me.
> ...



Oh I'm talking about physical appearance. If they are good looking, would you treat them the same if the were not so good looking?:mellow:


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## NephilimAzrael (Oct 26, 2008)

I do believe that physical appearance affects others. In fact, you could take a look at most developmental psychology reports considering the matter and see that it is important to us as we grow.

However, as I have matured, I have found that understanding what each facial expression indicates does not contextualise the origin of others' feelings or even at what/whom they are directed. Interesting aspect of human cognition is that memory can affect emotion at later stages in development/life.

Many NFs should be able to vouch for the idea that what one conveys in terms of facial expressions is not always what they are feeling. Example> The very SF method of always wearing a smile, even when you don't feel like smiling.

I hope I can figure out what my point is sometime soon. :laughing:


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## matilda (May 21, 2009)

How I feel about others, yes. How I treat them, no.

Unconsciously, yes. Consciously, no. It's kind of hard to explain.


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## Closet Extrovert (Mar 11, 2009)

I don't treat anyone differently whether they are good looking or not so good looking. I wait until I see their personality and behavior towards everyone before a make a decision.


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## Happy (Oct 10, 2008)

I know for a fact that most people treat each other differently based on how they look. 20/20 actually did this special on how women who were considered beautiful were more likely to get hired than those who were not. Pretty sad...


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## DayLightSun (Oct 30, 2008)

It's our human instinct to do so.
We are designed to like what looks good and healthy. 
I don't think we can blame out instincts to much on that.


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## NephilimAzrael (Oct 26, 2008)

DayLightSun said:


> It's our human instinct to do so.
> We are designed to like what looks good and healthy.
> I don't think we can blame out instincts to much on that.


A valid criticism, but one can also state that such instincts do not have place in recrtuitment. Unless physical appearance has a place in the job, i.e. Modelling.
I do not mean that instincts are not beneficial, but in a modern context, they have appropriate uses AND inappropriate uses.


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## thewindlistens (Mar 12, 2009)

NephilimAzrael said:


> A valid criticism, but one can also state that such instincts do not have place in recrtuitment. Unless physical appearance has a place in the job, i.e. Modelling.
> I do not mean that instincts are not beneficial, but in a modern context, they have appropriate uses AND inappropriate uses.


You can call instinct out of place all you want, the fact remains that it's there. Instinct resides on a far more basic level than consciousness, which means that it isn't used by 'us', more like the other way around.

A very related situation to this is that of dieting - who's to say that hunger and craving are inappropriate when trying to concentrate on 'healthy' food? And how many people fight them? Some do, of course, but the number of people that don't, regardless of what our conscious selves tell us we should do, shows you how deeply rooted such instincts are. Don't fault people for their subconscious desires...

Of course, none of this is an excuse to refrain from making ourselves better human beings, so your point stands.

What I'm trying to say, I guess, is that people shouldn't be faulted so much for something so deeply rooted in them. Even if humanity ever intellectually devolves, instinct will always remain, we'll lose our sanity before it.


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## NephilimAzrael (Oct 26, 2008)

thewindlistens said:


> You can call instinct out of place all you want, the fact remains that it's there. Instinct resides on a far more basic level than consciousness, which means that it isn't used by 'us', more like the other way around.
> 
> A very related situation to this is that of dieting - who's to say that hunger and craving are inappropriate when trying to concentrate on 'healthy' food? And how many people fight them? Some do, of course, but the number of people that don't, regardless of what our conscious selves tell us we should do, shows you how deeply rooted such instincts are. Don't fault people for their subconscious desires...
> 
> ...


I agree.
What I was making a note of was the commentary between Lance and Daylight on the matter.. Regarding the choices we make from instinct, in inappropriate situations. Some instincts which operate and function constantly are often applicable to daily life and every second of it. What I was pointing out however is that instinct, in a societal context, are inhibited. For example, going to get work to earn resources (money for living) is instinctive. But if the instinct of dispelling weakness based on impressions was right, then it could be said that those who were: Unattractive, weak, or handicapped would be better suited for begging, rather than substantiating themselves.

Instinct has a place in life, but needs to be inhibited for true vitality in a societal context. Otherwise, these instincts overwrite common social bonds.


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## Moss Icon (Mar 29, 2011)

We can't help our instinctual reactions but we can help how we proceed from there. For example I hate all that "how racist are you REALLY?" quiz crap. It's set up to define anyone who even _notices _racial differences as racist which is bullshit. One could argue our instincts are racist. We are programmed to perceive those not in our "in group" as suspicious and potentially dangerous. But instincts are instincts, they're not reason, or thought. A racist is one who irrationally follows through on their atavistic instinctual cues and adopts uninformed opinions based off of them. A developed individual sees those base-level reactions in themselves but knows they are irrational and outdated and pays them no real heed. Instincts are a survival mechanism, they are not reasoned and thought-out. They just 'are.' They create prompts and cues in us but how we respond is entirely our own responsibility. 

But back on the main subject of treating people based on how they look... To be honest I am far more conscious of how *I *look and am treated by others and thought of by myself, based off how I look, than I am about how others look. I feel I do not "look like myself." That is to say I feel my personality is not reflected by my face and this has caused me untold angst over the years. Some find me unattractive (including myself) and some find me very attractive. As a teenager I was largely viewed as 'ugly' but as a 20-something I was largely viewed as 'good-looking.' Part of this may have been the educational backgrounds and corresponding tastes of the people evaluating me (teenagers being stupid and shallow and reactionary, seeing someone as 'different looking' as ugly but university-educated, more mature individuals seeing distinctness as desirable, etc.) 

I do have quite chiseled, distinct features, some might even say I look slightly intimidating. This has really troubled me, and not just based on vanity or self-esteem issues. I'm a fairly sensitive, vulnerable person, deep down. Passionate about the things I care about but generally quite quiet and thoughtful. I feel my face portrays a much more intimidating and 'hard,' edgy look and have frequently been preconceived as being so. I feel trapped by my features, in a sense. Like I'm imprisoned in a shell that gives off one 'image' that I feel forced to adhere to, for the sake of this S-based society, when that is contrary to the person I feel like inside. The lack of cohesion between my face and my personality really, really troubles me. I hate seeing photos or reflections and try my best to present myself in a way that's more in line with who I am on the inside, via fashion, hairstyles, trying to monitor my expressions and taking photographs which soften the overall effect of my face. It's worked to a degree but I still cringe and even get openly frustrated and neurotic about seeing myself in 75-80% of mediums. I've tried to condition myself psychologically to accept my face, to stop fretting over it, but it never works. The only way I can avoid too much angst is to never look at myself, unfortunately that only makes it all the more jarring when I eventually do see myself again. 

I hate how much this affects me.


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## unico (Feb 3, 2011)

I don't think I really do... If I do I'm probably more open and nice toward the less conventionally attractive people because I find them less intimidating and less likely to judge my own appearance.


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## wisdom (Dec 31, 2008)

Sure. I am much more likely to approach or not put up shields when dealing with people who look friendly and non-intimidating (including not very good-looking). And, yes, facial unattractiveness (ugliness) triggers an avoidance reaction in me.


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## Kevinaswell (May 6, 2009)

They certainly affect how you feel.

And if you said they don't, that makes you a liar. It makes you a liar because you are a human, and thus MUST be affected. It's okay, though--being a human also makes it cool that you lied 

Anyhow, a lot of research has been done showing various relationships between specific facial/physical features and how people react to them. I'm not about to go on a google rampage, but one example is criminals. They have been found to use physical and demeanor judgments to select their victims (mostly ones appearing weak or unlikely to resist). Women which men find attractive have been found to literally make them stupider during interaction--despite the only difference being completely materialistic. 

Hell--you can even take the face itself out of the question. Glasses alone can have an affect!









Thanks, internet.


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## themartyparade (Nov 7, 2010)

If I meet two complete strangers and one of them is really good-looking and the other one is quite ugly, I'll be more interested in what the hottie has to say.

I don't think it has to do with looks alone though. I think confidence has a lot to do with it. Pretty people are often more confident and secure and that's a big part of the attraction.


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## Synderesis (Feb 17, 2011)

Absolutely. I don't do it consciously, but I'm sure I am a lot nicer to better looking people.

I mean like little kids! If they are really cute then how can you even think about being mean to them.


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## snail (Oct 13, 2008)

I am only affected by the expressions, not by the facial features themselves. This is as it should be, because expressions are expressive. They communicate something. The natural structure of the face is not communicative, and it would be unfair to make any decisions based on it.


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