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Everyone tells you not to judge a book by its cover, but come on. Everyone does it.
Which may be okay, as it turns out, especially since there are more and more studies that show that humans are actually pretty good at accurately judging someone at first glance. Here are just some things people can tell about you just by looking at you:
- You can pretty accurately judge someone’s personality from a picture. A new study shows that you can actually tell quite a few things from, say, someone’s display photo on Facebook or Tinder. No matter how you pose yourself, says this study, people can still pretty accurately judge your personality based on your photo. Traits like religiosity, self-esteem, and agreeableness are all out there for everyone to see.
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- However, we’re terrible at judging criminality. One study was convicted on death row convicts who were either convicted or exonerated. They were asked to judge which of the criminals were the least trustworthy, and participants picked the exonerated criminals almost every time.
- Your expression really counts. In one study, people were asked to judge peoples agreeableness and trustworthiness based on photos of people smiling or making a neutral expression. Unsurprisingly, people found those who made friendlier expressions to be more agreeable or trustworthy.
- Your physical strength is revealed by your bone structure. If you have a broad face, people are much more likely to think you’re strong.
- Wrinkles can say a lot about your health. One study revealed that the more wrinkles you have, the more likely you are to be at risk for heart disease. Women with the lowest risk of heart disease were found to look two years younger than their age.
- Your height could put you at risk for certain diseases. And there’s a benefit to each end of the spectrum. Taller people have been shown to be at lower risk for cardiovascular disease, whereas short people may have a lower risk of cancer. It’s not a guarantee, just a likelihood.
