When I was a senior in high school, my AP psychology class required us to come up with our own experiment to test one variable against another. My partner and I decided to find out how important ones appearance was when collecting money for a charity. During the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, we set out to local grocery stores and set up a stand where donations to Katrina victims could be made. We collected donations on two different instances. (Of course we went to great lengths to control all the variables and make the experimental results valid, but I won’t get into that here.)
The first day we dressed in sweats and looked like a mess. Our hair sticking up everywhere, we slouched in our chairs, and wore no makeup. The second time we collected money we dressed in classy business attire and looked very well put together. We sat up straight and appeared more professional. The money we collected on the days where we looked presentable was over 50% more than on the days we looked slouchy and a mess.
When it comes to giving money for a good cause, one would hope that the appearance of those collecting the money shouldn’t determine how much they donate. However, much like in other examples in society, a substantially larger amount of money was collected on the days where we looked physically presentable.
After reading Uglies, the outcome of this experiment immediately came to mind. I’ve learned about the “Halo Effect” in many of my classes, which says that people judge those who are beautiful to be nicer, more intelligent, and more trustworthy. People always say it’s what’s on the inside that matters, but in reality, whether we realize it or not, the outside tends to matter as well. Weather it involves collecting money for charity or creating a society of all pretty people, we have to ask ourselves how unimportant beauty really is. Sad, but something to think about.
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I think that beauty definitely has a very large role in our society. "Pretty" people in our society definitely have an upper hand for the most part. This is because beauty is so highly regarded in our society. In other societies beauty is not such a highly reputable thing. And in other societies they too have a high regard for beauty, but there beauty is different from ours. So, who is to say what beauty truly is anyhow? If beauty is different all around there world then what is beauty? You can see the effects of beauty in our society by looking at any magazine cover or watching any t.v. program. Even ugly betty from the t.v. show Ugly Betty isn't particularly ugly. When you take her out of the ugly betty scene she too is pretty. We also see the effects when young children are dieting or teenage girls have eating disorders. This is definitely similar to the Uglies. The Uglies is just a more severe case of what we already display in our own society.
I think that your post is so iteresting to me becaue during high school I participated in the same type of experiment which yielded the same results. I was also very surprised by the way people treated me when I was dressed to be geared towards the "ugly" end of the spectrum. It was a feeling of unimportance and a real confidence killer. Throughout this experiment I was reminded me of what my Mom always told me growing up; It's more important to be beautiful on the inside than the outside. Now, I would like to say that this is a load of crap based on my personal experiences, your blog, and I think pretty much the general consensus of people who have ever experienced this. However, I have to have faith in the fact that things are not always like this. So, while I definately agree with your blog, I think inner beauty ultimately prevails.
I liked the idea of this experiment, because in reality donating to charity should only depend on the charity and not the appearance of the people collecting it. However we all know in today's society it matters. We always hear the saying "Don't judge a book by its cover," yet we always do. My friend was also in Psychology in high school and I helped her out with an experiment. She walked into a store with a baby the first time, and only being 16, she got many looks and no help from many of the employees. The second time she walked into the store she had many employees ask if she needed help finding anything. I was the one taking notes in the background, and thought it was very interesting the way people reacted. At first everyone saw the baby, but once they looked up to see "the parent" they realized it was a 16 year old girl. Many seemed embarrassed for her and did not want to get involved. Little did they know the baby wasn't even hers, and they were judging her by this baby. Looking presentable always matters, even though we sometimes wish it didn't.
I definitely agree with Marci's comment. Beauty is different in other cultures. I don't think there really is any "absolute" beauty. Everyone has there own idea of what beauty is. Different things please different people. I also think that the inside is definitely more important than the outside. First of all, my friend Becca is engaged, and she thinks her fiance is very good looking. I think he is decent looking, but I don't think he looks as nice as Becca thinks he does. We have different views of what makes someone look nice. Secondly, when I first met Becca's fiance, I thought he was ugly. However, as I got to know him, I saw his personality and I knew that he was a great guy. I gradually began to think he wasn't ugly anymore. As I saw the inside, my view of the outside changed.
I did something very similar but in the context of job interviews. I already had a job and my parents were pushing me to get a second one because I wasn't getting enough hours at the first. I decided to do an individual study in which I showed up to job interviews dressed the part (dress pants, collared shirt, and tie) and then showed up in essentially gym shorts and a t-shirt at different locations. I have a bit of a shoe obsession you could say and I wore trendy gym shoes that were brand new when I wore the gym attire in hopes that the interviewer would notice and maybe that would propel my chances.
My findings: I was surprisingly correct. I got call backs on 3 of 4 interviews that I showed up in gym shorts and not a single one in which I wore the dress clothes.
Now relating this back to Uglies, I think it shows that appearance matters in context to what you do. Obviously the rusties had a different lifestyle than the pretties and their appearance fit their lifestyle. I wouldn't expect a mechanic to show up in dress clothes to change the oil in my car. And I wouldn't expect my doctor to show up in a basketball jersey to do open heart surgery on me. I think that yes, what is on the inside really matters in the long run, however sadly society doesn't usually view it this way.
The Effects of Appearance
I agree with the above posts regarding the important and vital role appearance plays in today’s society. I find Lindsay’s experiment from High School to be very true in everyday activities, and I have personally felt the result of others discrimination and judging based on appearance. For many years I have shopped at Somerset Mall in Troy, MI, a very upscale, expensive elite fashion mall – not your everyday mall with Old Navy, American Eagle, and Hollister. Shops such as Tiffanys and Co, Louis Vuitton, Saks Fifth Avenue, and Neiman Marcus are quick to judge customers based on what brand clothing and accessories they are wearing, especially taking note if they have polished hair, clean shoes, and an expensive bag. I have walked into these stores on a day not wearing my Sunday’s best and have been ignored and not waited on, in comparison to days when I did go shopping looking polished and were welcomed by numerous employees and felt accepted at the store. Why is this? In both situations I was a customer with equal financial inclination to purchase their expensive goods, and the clothing and appearance I portrayed on that specific day shouldn’t have played a role in their service. This practice of “judging a book by it’s cover” is even encouraged by most career services, encouraging students to dress professional for an interview. According to Kim Zoller at Image Dynamics, 55% of another person’s perception of you is based on how you look. Her Dressing for Success information includes the following tips for men to look your best
Men's Interview Attire
• Solid color, conservative suit
• White long sleeve shirt
• Conservative tie
• Dark socks, professional shoes
• Very limited jewelry
• Neat, professional hairstyle
• Go easy on the aftershave
• Neatly trimmed nails
• Portfolio or briefcase
Even though employers are not allowed to discriminate interview candidates based on appearance, the above items can play a vital role in the decision between two candidates. Regardless of what we teach children, or tell ourselves, your appearance plays a role in others opinions and first impression. What impression are you creating?
J
http://www.imagedynamicsagency.com/
This post is extremely interesting. I think it's really cool that you had the idea to carry out an experiment such as this one. I bet you got a good grade!
I think this definitely speaks volumes about our society as a whole. I don't think that appearance should have as much influence as it does. It is an unfortunate fact that this is true.
Society has placed a standard of beauty that can not be obtained by most individuals. I think the novel Uglies did a good job at depicting the consequences of such actions.
What can be done to reverse this with out an operation or nano-pills? This is a question within our society that should be answered an soon. We dont want our future generations traveling down this same road.
I think appreance has become one of the most important factor that one would need to be successful. Plastic surgery has become so common and teenagers get breast implent for their sweet 16 present. After the internet has developed people has lost their "technique" to communicate since they don't have see people's face to communicate through web. Thinking about our parents generation, "Baby Boomer" there was still media which dragged some viewers to follow how they want them to act but in modern world living in, we need to be good looking. Looking at how people look isn't a good thing to do, but happens in public as well like how it happened when poster of this article was collecting fund. It has became the custom of our society and people tend to ignore the aftermath, just fulfill and get satisfied with their impulse desire.
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