Good Wine with Good Friends
August 8th, 2011
Pictured here, we shared a small bottle of Strawman dessert wine by Sine Qua Non with friends at Heidi’s Restaurant in Minneapolis last week.
The rich dessert wine is 100% Semillon and made in the style of a vin de paille or dried berry (grape) method, where the grapes are dried on straw mats. Most of the grapes used by SQN are sourced from vineyards in Santa Barbara County. Thank you Deb and Stuart for sharing it with us.
The Halo Effect: Power of First Impressions
August 4th, 2011
Are first impressions important? Do attractive people have an unfair advantage? According to the halo effect, while not a fair or necessarily an accurate assessment, first impressions are indeed very powerful. When people receive positive visual messages and cues from a pleasing appearance, they will assume that other aspects about you are equally as positive. This compounding effect is referred to as the halo effect.
Solomon Asch, the human behaviorist who is considered an early pioneer of social psychology is well-know for research in this area. The results of his famous study suggest that attractiveness is a central trait, so we take it another step further to presume all the other traits of an attractive person are just as attractive and sought after. The linking of disconnected traits is the basis for making first impressions and why they are so hard to overcome.
As silly as it seems, results from a more recent study by Bryn Mawr College confirms his earlier research. As a cosmetic surgeon, I make a living helping people improve their appearance. I do believe in the notion that when you look good, you often feel better, but I find it fascinating that the perceptions of appearance and physical beauty also involve the unconscious. I’ll think twice now about running up to the grocery store in my dirty gardening clothes, lest I be judged too harshly!
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