Pašalić: Can we judge people by their appearance?

By: Isa Pašalić, psychologist

We witness how often people superficially look at others based on their external appearance, without deeply considering the inner person in front of them. This phenomenon has also given rise to the well-known proverb: “Don’t judge a book by its cover.”

However, what if the natural human need to judge people by their external appearance has an important reason for its existence? Can judging, or rather assessing people by their appearance, have a valid root in psychology?

Although the aforementioned proverb immortalized the social realization that any form of judging people based on their external appearance is wrong, we cannot deny that in everyday life, we use precisely this method to assess people and navigate social environments more easily.

People, like plants, speak through their appearance about the conditions of their lives, scars from youth, scars from old age, the fertility and suitability of the environment in which they grew, and their personal generosity.

A good analyst, like a good botanist, learns to recognize a person's life story thanks to what the person shows through their appearance. A person's clothing can tell us something about their financial situation and hygiene habits, but also tell a story about their mood, stylistic skill, and ingenuity.

Body language also reveals a person's mood and character. This is most easily observed in posture. People who are sad, dejected, or ashamed often have their shoulders hunched towards their chest, thus signaling a kind of “deflation” of vitality.

Furthermore, we can assess a person's internal state based on their voice. Is the person able to express the full tone of their voice, or are they unable to shape it with the entire spectrum of its colors and intonations?

This form of analysis is an extremely complex process, but it can indeed provide us with important information about other people. However, does this method of analysis provide us with sufficiently comprehensive information to draw a final conclusion? The answer is – no.

Therefore, the answer to the question “Judge a book by its cover?” is that we judge only to obtain initial information, which we then confirm by further acquaintance with the person.

As always, the truth lies somewhere between two extremes.