ColdLightOfDay
Serge’s alt.
★★★★★
- Joined
- Apr 18, 2018
- Posts
- 5,704
This is basically a microcosm of looks theory and the halo effect. If someone has a picture of a Chad for their avi (I have no idea why people choose this) I usually interpret their writings on this site as coming from a place of deeper confidence, as opposed to people who choose obvious incel archetypes or lolis in which the opposite effect is realised. The same can be said for someone who has a sarcastic looking character as their avi image, their writings come accross more sarcastic and less literal.
Even though we know these are not real pictures of these people our brains are hardwired to prioritise physical features when analysing another person we are communicating with, this is why you often hear people say things like; “he said all the right things but gave me an uneasy feeling.” The visual aspect of the person’s demeanour overshadows the positive content of what they were saying.
If your perception of someone can be subconsciously altered by the meaningless choice of what image they choose to represent themself in an online forum, then imagine how much your actual face is counting against you in the non-virtual world with real interpersonal interactions.
In other words, it doesn’t matter what you say. The way you come across to people will be much more influenced by your physical characteristics.
Even though we know these are not real pictures of these people our brains are hardwired to prioritise physical features when analysing another person we are communicating with, this is why you often hear people say things like; “he said all the right things but gave me an uneasy feeling.” The visual aspect of the person’s demeanour overshadows the positive content of what they were saying.
If your perception of someone can be subconsciously altered by the meaningless choice of what image they choose to represent themself in an online forum, then imagine how much your actual face is counting against you in the non-virtual world with real interpersonal interactions.
In other words, it doesn’t matter what you say. The way you come across to people will be much more influenced by your physical characteristics.