Review

and probably lacks self-confidence.

Example Two: This person is comfortable in their own skin and doesn’t fear judgement from others. They don’t feel the need to exert dominance, but rather, they exude a natural high status. Their confidence allows them to connect with others.

Example Three: This is an example of someone who is attempting to hide their true feelings by making it appear as if they are feeling a different way. They are attempting to project dominance and confidence, when in fact they are feeling annoyed, nervous, or fearful. They overcompensate these feelings by trying to look intimidating.

Chapter 3 – Outward Personality Characterization Aspects

This chapter will explore five facets of a person’s lifestyle that will help you to better understand aspects of their personality:

1.Looking at someone’s habits and tastes to understand them

2.How someone’s appearance and clothing are used as a form of expression

3.Analyzing how a person uses language

4.Correlations between taste in music and personality traits

5.Examining a person’s peer group to understand them

There are many aspects of a person’s personality that you don’t know when you first meet them. However, there are aspects about them that they project whether they know it or not, such as their clothing choice or personal hygiene. By analyzing their belongings, clothing, use of language, and overall appearance you can gain an insight into who they are. You may also learn about them through the people they choose to interact with, observing their habits and taking note of their tastes in entertainment or social activities.

Analyzing versus Judging

When you use external factors to evaluate someone, it’s important that you take an objective perspective and use caution not to judge a person. What you see on the outside are mere indications about their internal qualities. You should use what you can see as pieces of the whole puzzle of who they are. For instance, many celebrities portray themselves one way to further their careers in the spotlight. In their personal lives, however, this may not be an accurate portrait of how they act “behind closed doors” so to speak. They only portray themselves in a certain manner to benefit their work life.

What You See

Important indicators about a person will leak out via their outward appearance. Their hair styles, the clothes they wear, the choice to wear a certain perfume or cologne, or other personal grooming habits can be used to gain perspective about a person. Many people use these methods of personal style to express themselves. Keep in mind, though, they may be dressing a certain way to create an appearance or impression that may not be aligned with their true internal self.

Take the example of a young female headed to a job interview in an office with a

mostly male population. She may choose to wear a dark-colored pant suit and a blouse just low-cut enough to show a bit of cleavage. She may truly feel intimidated, but she wants to project that she is confident. Some studies suggest that women who choose to hide their feminine assets (i.e. breasts or hips) are subconsciously expressing an insecurity in their femininity. On the other hand, women who are unafraid to show a little cleavage or wear tight-fitting clothing are expressing the fact that they don’t feel undermined by their gender.

This is one example that demonstrates how difficult it can be to determine personality traits about a person based solely on their attire. Other grooming habits may give a clearer and perhaps more accurate view of their internal aspects. For the most part, someone who has taken the time to appear clean and presentable and who wears appropriate fitting clothing demonstrates a certain level of self-confidence. The other side of that is when someone appears unkempt with unwashed hair and wears baggy or raggedy clothes probably has low self-esteem or lacks social awareness.

Because these types of observations are only visible, there are many other cues about a person to consider in conjunction with their appearance – for instance, body language or verbal communication. From the previous example of the wellgroomed, well-dressed person, it may be that they are highly insecure and they have spent much time and effort in creating their ideal appearance. Conversely, the person who appears to be messy or unkempt may have high self-confidence but rejects the notion of accepting social cues about expectations and believe their appearance is not who they is as a person. Yet another possibility exists – if a person appears unkempt but displays other aspects of having high self-esteem, it is possible that they ran out of the house in a hurry or that appearing this way is an ironic form of fashion-focused self-expression.

What You Hear

How a person’s voice projects can also be indicative of their internal personality. If a person speaks in a medium volume with rhythmic or steady intonation and the words seem to fall out of their mouth with ease, chances are that they are comfortable and confident. If someone stutters through their words and their voice is shaky this may demonstrate their lack of belief in what they’re telling you or that they are uncomfortable. Sometimes if a person is speaking very rapidly, it may show signs of anxiousness. It may also mean that they tend to turn their thoughts inward as they are ineffective communicators and pay little