Does our first name match our appearance?

It is often said that we should not judge a book by its cover. But it’s almost inevitable We instantly evaluate people’s intelligence, reliability, or character simply by their physical appearance. In fact, a few years ago, some scientists studied the opposite possibility: Could the way people judge us affect our appearance?

To answer this question, a team led by researchers Ruth Mayo and Yonat Zwebnerfrom the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, was tasked with examining whether a person’s appearance could be influenced by their first name.

So, they gathered a group of people and showed them color pictures of the faces of complete strangers. They then presented respondents with a list of possible names and asked them to select the stranger’s first name based solely on facial appearance.

The results reflect that they have passed the test on a large scale. That’s by saying, She repeatedly beat the odds of correctly identifying a person’s name based on their facial appearance alone. The results of this study were published in 2017 in the journal Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.

So, for example, when looking at a face and thinking of four possible names—Jacob, Dan, Joseph, or Nathaniel— Participants correctly assigned the name “Dan” to someone 38% of the time, a higher result than expected. The success persisted even when age and race were removed, meaning there was more than just socioeconomic evidence, according to experts.

“There is no doubt that people are like their names,” said Ruth Mayo, a researcher in the Department of Psychology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem who is responsible for the study. “Furthermore, this occurs through a process of ‘self-fulfilling prophecy’, i.e.: We become what others expect us to be“, It is to explain.

In line with this phenomenon, researchers discovered that Test subjects significantly outperformed the odds of correctly guessing a person’s name even when they were only allowed to see their hairstyle.. This suggests, interestingly, that “people may choose a hairstyle that fits the stereotype associated with their name,” according to the researchers.

Likewise, those responsible for the study compared these results with those studied in a second country and culture, confirming that they also exceeded expectations. However, while those tested exactly matched the faces with names from their own culture, They have not had much success with the faces of foreign culture.

On the other hand, they did not score as well when trying to guess the names of people using only a surname. This is evidenced by scholars A person’s appearance is not affected by his name unless he uses itAnd not just because it appears on the birth certificate.

“The Dorian Gray Effect”

But is this ability to associate faces and names unique to humans? In previous research, the human factor was completely eliminated. In this case, the researchers used a computer model and found out The computers were also able to do this correctly when they were challenged to choose the correct name from among 94,000 different faces.. This reinforces the idea that our faces may contain relevant information related to our names.

Experts suggest that this may be due to “The Dorian Gray effect“, as reported in previous research, on how internal factors such as personality influence our facial appearance. We must remember that Dorian Gray was the protagonist of Oscar Wilde’s novel whose actions influenced his image.

“Often the stereotypical expectations of others influence our identity.. “We suggest that there are similar stereotypes about names, including what someone with a certain name looks like, and that these expectations actually influence our facial appearance,” she said. Ruth Mayfrom the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

According to researchers, the possibility that our name affects our appearance, no matter how small, indicates… The important role of social structure in the complex interaction between self-identity and society.

That would explain it We “depend” on the social structure from the moment we are bornnot only because of our gender, race, and socioeconomic status, but also because of the simple choice others make in giving us our name.

“The name represents a crucial social etiquette. This reflects the great potential that a social factor can shape our identity, and even influence our appearance.”

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