A recent study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology has discovered something eerie: in many cases, people actually do look like their names.
So while we might feel a bit silly saying that Elizabeth, really looks like an Elizabeth, there could actually be some truth to that assertion.
According to the research, participants who were asked to guess a stranger’s name could do so with surprising accuracy, thanks to the social and cultural stereotypes that come with a name.
The study found a correlation between people’s names and their appearance, and they determined this was because of two factors:
Names are culturally bound, so if a girl’s name is Elizabeth, she’s likely to be Caucasian.
Each name comes with a group of stereotypes attached to it, and people unconsciously adopt these characteristics over time.
Lead author on the study, psychologist Yonat Zwebner, said: “Each name has associated characteristics, behaviours, and a look, and as such, it has a meaning and a shared schema within a society.”
“These name stereotypes include a prototypical facial appearance such that we have a shared representation for the ‘right’ look associated with each name.”
In the course of their study, researchers presented participants with photos of strangers, alongside a list of four to five names.
They were then asked to match the person to the name that fit them best.
What researchers found was that participants guessed people’s names correctly 40 per cent of the time, far higher than chance.
Dr Ruth Mayo, co-author of the study, explains that we are subject to social structuring from the minute we are born, not just by gender, ethnicity and socio-economic status, but by the simple choice others make in giving us our name.”
Interestingly, the name we are given then influences our self-perception, personality, and the choices we make about our physical appearance.
The study also notes that people with the same name have facial similarities – especially around their eyes and mouth. Researchers have suggested: “She develops a certain look maybe because she is smiling more because of all the positive feedback she gets when she smiles.”
.jpg)
