IN a recent conversation with one of our clients, I was struck by her statement. When she came in, I noticed that her hair, usually worn short, still looked good. I asked her if she was unhappy with the last haircut or whether she had a hard time styling it. She replied, “Not at all. I could have waited for another week or two, but I wanted a haircut… you know, hair is a feeling!
It made me think. Beyond bangs being too long and hair ends splitting, yes, hair is a powerful feeling. It can make or break a day.
Upon researching I found a study from Yale University by professor Marianne LaFrance on the psychological effects of bad hair days.
In her research, people unhappy about their hair “tended to say negative things like ‘I procrastinate,’ or ‘I tend to overreact,’” Dr. LaFrance said.
Men were more likely than women to feel less capable, even dumber, on bad-hair days.
In a separate study completed this year, Dr. LaFrance found that people made broad judgments about one another based on nothing more substantial than hairstyle. Not to make anyone self-conscious, but women with short hair seem to be perceived as more intelligent and confident, but not as sexy, as women with long, straight hair. Long-haired men get relatively low marks for intelligence, but they are seen as more good-natured than short-haired types.
“The cultural belief is that we should not pay attention to appearances, that integrity and character are what count,” Dr. LaFrance said. “But we are suckers for small differences in appearance, and take them as indicative of other things.”
And Vivian Diller, Ph.D., a psychologist in private practice in New York City wrote this:
• Aesthetically—Hair frames the face, the feature considered most important in terms of first impressions. Faces generally are viewed as playing a greater role than bodies when it comes to attraction between people. Following a person’s smile, eyes and skin, their hair is often the next feature people notice on first encounters. It is among the top three features—along with height and weight—used when describing others and one of the feature most often recalled after a social interaction occurs.
• Self-Esteem—Our sense of attractiveness is strongly connected to confidence and positive self-esteem. Many men and women associate confidence with feeling in control, and hair is one way most of us can be in charge. For example, hair can be altered through cutting, coloring and highlighting, as well as controlled through straightening, curling and styling. Styled, well-kept hair gives us the external appearance
of being well managed and it can contribute to feeling that way internally.
Intuitively I knew much of this but it was rewarding to see it “proven.” In our daily work we encounter many women who visit us because they need an emotional lift, a bit of me-time away from career or demands at home. Our salon is their sanctuary and when they leave with a big happy smile, we know we did our job.
Hair is indeed a feeling. How does yours feel?
