How much does a person's physical characteristics mold their personality?

Question

For example, do you think that your body type or facial characteristics have impacted your personality? If you had a different type of body, would you still be who you are? If my brain had been born into a model's body, would I still be who I am or would I have developed a totally different personality?...

Answer 1

Oh boy, Yahz--this is really an interesting question for my brain to try to engage with so early (7 a.m.) in the day, but--I'll give it a shot.

Let's see here, quite honestly, I believe it has EVERYTHING (NOT just a slight impact), but--EVERYTHING to do with a persons personality when you compare physical appearances to their TRUE PERSONALITY.. .
(not to be confused with what we "assume" to be, or what WE see as their so-called personality). What we are seeing in this person could all be a put-on "act" as they attempt to "create" a personality to somewhat match their physical appearance. PLUS, we need to add in the "BIGGIE"---how was this person raised as a child? Did he/she have a great childhood? Did they have other siblings, or were they an only child? If there were siblings, where was this persons place in the "line-up" (first born, middle kid, the baby or ??)? Did they come from a 2-parent home, or were the raised by a single parent? Was there any abuse/neglect, etc., going on in this persons young life, or were they "placed on a pedestal", so-to-speak? Thus, creating the adult form of "Mr. Macho", or "The Princess"---usually known as the "Stone (or Ice) Princess". Now, we also must add in here how this person did in school, and just how far did they go in school--a drop-out, high school grad., some college, a degree/advanced degree, etc.? And, finally--if we're talking about a college grad.,--WHO financed this? Did Daddy take care of the whole thing, or did this person actually have to WORK for it with part time jobs, Pell Grants, student loans, scholarships, etc.?

ALL OF THIS plays a part in creating the adult person that we now see and experience.

I can personally give you two EXCELLENT examples of this type of thing on BOTH sides of this topic from 2 different friends of mine who don't even know each other--they are both women:
1.)---I'll call her "Susy". This is a (almost) 36 year old female who was born with SEVERE/life threatening birth defects--internally and externally. Doctors/specialists did not expect her to live for more than 5 minutes past birth--36 years later, she's still here with us. These defects are due to her dad being directly sprayed (several times) with Agent Orange during the Vietnam War. I won't go into the internal problems much right here, but her OUTWARD appearance is nothing less than HIDEOUS! And, I am NOT saying this to be mean--she's the one who pointed a lot of this out to ME--I didn't see it! SHE is the one who told me about how she looks like a MONKEY! And, honestly, when I really look for it, I can see it. Originally, when I met her, I thought that this girl had been in some horrible fire or had acid thrown on her or some other horrible thing. Her face is scarred everywhere, her eyes are like tiny slits, she DOES definately have the nose, head shape & jaw bones of an Orangutan type Ape, and YES--her entire back is covered with a orange/red/auburn (Orangutan color) "fur coat"! I don't mean a little fuzz---I'm talking about 2 to 5 inches in length! She is now begining to sprout a mustache and beard. Further, she is pushing 300 pounds easy, and she's only 5 feet tall. She was teased, bullied, beat up on, had things thrown at her,every comment made ("Does monkey want a banana"?) and treated un-mercifully all thru-out her school days. It is much worse than this--this is just a quick outline of her EXTERNAL APPEARANCE. This young lady has EVERY reason one can think of to be the World's Biggest Biotch! But--she ISN'T! She has a great attitude, a wonderful sense of humor, and all animals and kids--yes, I said KIDS are absolutely drawn to her like iron to a magnent! One would think that kids would be afraid of her outward appearance, since it's a well-known fact that almost all kids under the age of 3 or 4 are scared to death of clowns, but NO CHILD has ever been afraid of Suzy--they love her. She has a heart of gold, loves children, animals, the elderly/disabled, and until lately worked in the child care, and elderly/disabled/handicapped caregiver field. She has had to quit working completely now, as her spine is giving out on her, but she still tries to keep up the good attitude.
2.)---In comparison: This one we'll call "Mary".
Here we have a very pretty woman, almost 38 years old, nice figure, good job, nice car, just about anything she wants, she gets. She's been doted on, catered to (to excess)--she doesn't even do her own laundry or housework,--yep, put on the pedestal and treated like the "princess" (that she's NOT), and what type of outward personality does this one have? It varies from person-to-person, and depends on what type of "mood" she's in, but for the most-part, she has the personality of a RATTLE SNAKE! Yes, she was raised as a spoiled brat, and this just continued into adulthood. And, "Miss Princess" here doesn't even have a GED--she dropped out of school in the 9th or 10th grade.

So, here ya go, Yahz---here's 2 completely different ends of the scale for you to consider when trying to figure out the answer to this question. Let's take ME, for example--even though you somewhat know me, oh well: Yes, I am in a wheelchair now due to my spinal/hip conditions, but--ya know what? I feel that this has made a BETTER person out of me, NOT the opposite. Why? Because the power chair has allowed me the freedom of getting around my own home WITHOUT being in pain. This, in itself, improves my attitude and inter-actions with others drastically. Therefore, I have a much better attitude towards life as a whole. Sure, I could certainly use another body, but--I actually WANT to keep my same brain--nothing wrong there, I'm not even depressed. So, I guess to answer one part of your question--"if you had a different body, would you still be who you are"? YES--and I would WANT to be. I am a very friendly, out-going, humorous, caring, thoughtful person, and I wouldn't want to change any of this. I have a lot of friends (well, not too many anymore--during the past 3 or 4 years many have passd away), but I've still met even more that kind of "fill the gap". Rather than being looked down upon--especially in the supermarkets when I must use one of those electric carts--I get treated with the utmost respect by both men & women, and anybody/everybody will almost always stop to see if I need any help reaching certain items, which I do. And, of course, I'm very thankful to them.

So, in summing this whole thing up---the way I see it is: YOU have choices. For a woman, she can "choose" to be a beautiful piece of "eye-candy", and play the roll of being the helpless, brainless "damsel in distress"--you know, the "needy one" who will ALWAYS have at least 1 or 2 men falling at her feet---IF, IF--she wants to WORK that hard on being anorexic (we must stay at a size 0 to 2), (the lazier ones will resort to coke up the nose or meth to keep the weight down) which, of course, messes your whole body up, and YES these are the ones that turn out to be the Worlds biggest Biotches--the "ice princesses" and/or NO personality at all. Sure, they'll get the men--for a while, but it won't last, and never does. I could go on and on (but I think I'v done enough of this). All-in-all, Give me BRAINS AND PERSONALITY over beauty ANYTIME!! The brains & personality only ENHANCE as we get older, but the beauty fades away and you have NOTHING left but a memory. Hope this give you a little in-sight as to where I'm coming from, Yahz. I also have a Q. for you, but I'll e-mail you direct, I'm not going to post it here. Have a GREAT day! SHARON

Answer 2

Hello there Yahz,

This is a most interesting question, and I have never pondered about this before, so I most certainly can't give you an extensive and logical answer.

I do have some food for thought though. It is a common fact that, for example, people that lose LOTS of weight, would also have their personalities changed.
I have know some fat people, that at one point, lost lots of weight, and along with that, their personalities DID change.

Also, a person's appearance does obviously affect their behavior. Fat people are usually covering up for their complexes about it, and so on....(as other answerers have mentioned)
BUT, what seems pretty interesting to me is this question:
If my brain had been born into a model's body, would I still be who I am or would I have developed a totally different personality?
To me, I have always stereotyped model-type people as the kind that don't think too deeply.....so your idea does strike me as an interesting thought.
Thanks for giving me something to think about ; )
Good luck in your search for the answer!

Answer 3

What an interesting question. Let me throw something else into the mix: the fact that a person has his own view of how he looks, sometimes having nothing to do with the way he actually looks. That's why sometimes a heavy person loses weight but always thinks of himself as heavy. It's probably true of people who have plastic surgery as well. The mind's eye is very powerful. So in that way, I think your physical characteristics don't mold your personality, because you have your own view of what you look like, perhaps having nothing to do with the truth.

I think, though, that the reactions you get from people do mold your personality. In other words, if you were teased as a kid for having some physical trait, I think that can stay with you as either a negative or, if you fight it, a positive force.

Interesting question, though.

Answer 4

I think a person's physical characteristics play a huge part in how they become who they are in terms of personality. A good looking guy would more likely to be confident around the opposite sex as opposed to a man who people generally classify as unattractive. The unattractive guy would almost always shy away from being the first to initiate the initial contact at the opposite sex unless he is familiar with her.

I think attractive people are more prone to have less empathy than unattractive people as they are always praised and generally get a nicer response from people they encounter. Unattractive people have more experience in being treated badly and so I think unattractive people can feel how it realy is to be treated "differently" in a bad way so having empathy is a side effect of that in my own opinion.

(I think an episode of Tyra Banks Show proved this to be true when they had a camera hidden while following a pretty girl around town. She generally was given full attention by anyone she asked help for, was given a seat on the bus, etc. But when they had the makeup crew dress her like an unattractive overweight lady, everything changed. No one wanted to talk to her when she tried asking for directions from people, no one let her have a seat on the subway / bus and at end of the day, she was crying and telling the camera crew that she never realized how awful being fat or ugly could be. *If I remember correctly* ... She stated that she could not stand living another day as a fat person and she could never have imagined what they went through every single day of their lives without doing Tyra's experiment)

edit:
oops sorry i failed to read the additional details ... i just gave a long answer to the first Q.

Answer 5

Almost more than anything else. The tricky part is that looks can be very deceiving. I am getting some notice about my avatar, It looks like the person behind the answers but only a little like me. My nose is not that long. Most people seem to assume ignorance when they first see me, I have found this to be an advantage because when people feel superior they let down there guard and show who they really are. First impressions only matter when you want something, self sufficiency is more satisfying than good looks. Creation has more substance than beauty and in the end, those who can truly see will find some beauty in everyone.

Answer 6

It very much so states how you act (your looks). My wife's best friend (who is like a sister to me) was born with some facial deformities. She's had numerous surgeries...and although she looks 100X better...you can still tell that there is something that isn't "normal" in her appearance. As a result, people stare at her....which is why she is shy. Why is also why she has "settled" to accepting the fact that she probably will never get married...or have kids (unless she adopts). Which is the worst thing, because she is amazing with our son.

On the flip side...her physical appearance has molded me as well. I don't stare like I use to. And I get EXTREMELY mad at people who do (especially when I'm with her). I really have to restrain myself from confronting people who just stare at her. What can I say...I'm human with human fallacies.


Good luck, and may God continue to shine on you.
-Shalom

Answer 7

Very interesting question: thanks for asking it. There has been much research on this topic; and I don't think any definitive conclusions have ever been made.

The most important question I feel, is how physical characteristics impact "self image". In general, given there are no mental anomalies, the more attractive a person's physique, the greater their self-esteem, their self image.

But the aspect of "nurture" in my opinion, is just as important as genes, on how a personality evolves.

If one has good genes and a supportive rearing environment, then a good self image is a likely outcome. But if either or both parents for whatever reason, should denigrate the child, they most likely will grow up conflicted: probably have very serious psychological problems.

For me, it would seem that it comes down to the old question of "nature vs. nurture". In other words, one's physical characteristics would impact their personality evolution, account for approximately 50% of its generic data-base: if that makes sense.

Alberich

Answer 8

I think that it effects your personality a great deal.I'm 6'2' 250 still reasonably muscular and i walk thru this world w/o too much fear of anybody attacking me or being physically able to hurt me.
I also know that women like tall guys so in a situation where a 5'5" guy would be working overtime trying get a ladies attention, I can just cruise over to her say "Hi" and it's basically all over for him at that point
I don't do those kind of things but because of my size if i wanted to I easily could.

Answer 9

If my brain was put in a dead body i'm pretty sure i'd be different.

I think i would be different if i were less ugly and fat. I might not by as shy when i first meet people.

I think it would affect you because if you were given a better body you may be able to do sports which wold change your attitude. More of your concentration and energy would go towards sports.
If you had the body of a model, i think you would like to become a model, or at least be more outgoing to show off. You might also be more competitive over prettiness and stuff with others.

Answer 10

your physical characteristics absolutley influence and to some extent define your personality. as you grow up your self esteem or sense of self comes from the comments and attitudes of other people. Obviously your personality at that time plays a role as well but lets face it kids dont look at personality much. i have a unique face with a low browline...basically i look pissed off all the time even if im happy. you get back to a large part what you put out, but in my case i cant help it but people get a negative vibe from me and in return they arent the most pleasant to me. of course this affects my personality....i am introverted and keep to my self.......however when i was a kid i had a happy appearance and i was very outgoing.

Answer 11

I don't regard myself as ugly, but I am not handsome either, and I think my personality reflects that.
I tend to be on the outside looking on most of the time.
I don't think the shape of my body has anything to do with my personality.