Do you think people's personality often times matches their looks?
You ever meet someone and after talking to them and getting to know them you think, "yeah, I sort of figured they would have this personality because they look like they would"?
Yea. Ok. So their style is goth. But do you know what their fears are? Do you know what they like for breakfast or what they watch on TV? Or even if they do watch TV? There is zero sort of reliability in those stereotypes.
Not only aesthetic choices, but behaviorally-affected physical traits too: posture, resting facial expression facial creases and muscle tone(e.g. laugh/frown lines), body language and mannerisms, etc. Sure it's not exactly a science, but certain broad traits are fairly outwardly apparent.
I've been told I look like I am on my way to murder someone but I haven't killed anyone. In fact it's been 150+ years since my family gave up murdering and we've never looked back.
edit: although for a lot of that time, that side of the family were in the army where killing is legal sanctioned as long as you don't get anyone on your own side.
I think people's looks and personality correspond in a few different ways.
One is that people's choices for style and personal care reflect their personality, so having fancy clothes indicate a person who cares enough about looks to put in the effort.
People also can choose to associate themselves visually with different groups, and if they identify with that group they likely have similar values, including those around personality.
Even things someone can't control, such as height, probably affect their personality because it changes the way others interact with them in society.
I think it’s an imaginary concept that reinforces itself. If you get to know someone and realize that they’re a kind person, their physical traits seem to reflect that.
He would see faces in movies, on TV
In magazines and in books
He thought that some of these faces might be right for him
And that through the years
By keeping an ideal facial structure fixed in his mind
Or somewhere in the back of his mind
That he might, by force of will
Cause his face to approach those of his ideal
The change would be very subtle
It may take ten years or so
Gradually his face would change its shape
A more hooked nose
Wider, thinner lips
Beady eyes
A larger forehead
He imagined that this was an ability he shared with most other people
That they had also molded their faces according to some ideal
Maybe they imagined they imagined their new face
Would better suit their personality
Or maybe they imagined that their personality
Would be forced to change, to fit the new appearance
This is why first impressions are often correct
Although some people might have made mistakes
They might have arrived to an appearance that bears no relationship to them
They might have picked an ideal appearance based on some childish whim
Or a momentary impulse
Some may have gotten half way there
And then changed their minds
He wonders if he too might have made a similar mistake
I look at people and try to guess their political lean. I feel pretty shallow basing it on color and size of hair, but I kind of think there's something there.
You could maybe make an argument about how a person ages with the lines of their face picking up patterns, but that's still only going to be viable for a decade or two of a lifetime.