Not solely; in my head yummy mummies manage to be permanently happy, smiling, glowing (from all the sex they are getting), kind, considerate and above all calm. But, in the main, she is thin (healthily so, with strong muscles), fashionable and preened. She has manicured nails, perfectly styled hair and perfect just-there make-up.
And when I see a woman with those 'looks', I make judgements. I judge how happy I think she is, I judge what television I think she watches, what music she listens to and what interests she has. In a split second I have a fully-rounded person in my head. Then, as I get to know them better, the judgements adapt accordingly.
What is interesting is that I also make the same judgements about people I have never met, based only on the smattering of information I know about them, what other's have said, and heavily influenced by my experiences.
I do this before meeting them and often find that the image of the person that I was holding in my head; the temporary 'egg' shape that appears as your avatar before you finally get around to downloading your picture; looks nothing, and I mean nothing, like the person in real life.
I do this before meeting them and often find that the image of the person that I was holding in my head; the temporary 'egg' shape that appears as your avatar before you finally get around to downloading your picture; looks nothing, and I mean nothing, like the person in real life.
This morning a friend of mine was astonished. She had just met someone in person for the first time, but knew some of their family already. She explained how, in her head, this lady was; tall, skinny, blonde, brisk, stern, business-like, suited and formal.
How strange then, that the person actually turned out to be; slightly above average height, skinny, brunette, shy, understated, jeans-wearing, friendly, relaxed, nervous and very informal.
My friend couldn't work out how she'd managed to get the avatar in her head so completely wrong. She was intrigued how she'd formulated that image, and what experiences must have collated together to present that data. She wondered what the family members must have said in the past to contribute to that mental image.
I similarly have had occasions where I've met someone, they've told me their name, I've said "Ohhhh, so you're……" and been shocked at how wrong my mental picture was.
Have you had any similar occasions? Does your 'image' of someone change if you speak to them on the phone?
Have you ever thought that someone's voice didn't fit with what they looked like? What is that all about?
