Pearl Nash
All your life, you’ve always felt ugly.
You never saw yourself as stunning or remarkably attractive in any way.
It may be because you grew up with highly critical parents or because you’ve been doing things that make you insecure about your body, or both.
In either case, your self-perspective might not be the most accurate gauge.
While you might not have the standout features to be a model or actor, it’s possible that you might not have noticed that you are actually a lot more attractive than you believe.
How to find out?
Here are 8 science-backed signs you’re actually a lot better looking than you think you are.
1) People trust you easily
Are people not threatened by your presence?
Do they share their life stories and secrets even though they just met you?
Do they have an impression that you’re someone kind, honest, gentle, and trustworthy?
Then you’re probably a lot better looking than you think.
A new study by scientists at Penn Medicine led by Dr. Anjan Chatterjee, director at Penn Center for Neuroaesthetics, found that people tend to trust those who are conventionally attractive.
He said,“Judgements on attractiveness and trustworthiness are consistent across cultures, and these assumptions based on facial beauty are made extremely quickly.”
So if you find that even strangers confide in you easily, then it might just be a sign.
This means that your looks signaled to their subconscious that it’s fine to let their guard down with you.
2) Babies stare at you
Of all the signs, this is my personal favorite!
When you’re in the metro or lining up in the grocery store, do babies stare at you?
Do they smile and engage with you more than other people?
If that’s the case, then it’s likely because you’re more attractive than average.
According to psychology, babies prefer to gaze upon beautiful faces.
Apparently, “Attractiveness is not in the eye of the beholder, it’s innate to a newborn infant,” says
UK researcher Alan Slater.
Their research showed that babies as young as one day old spent more time fixated on the more attractive face when shown a pair of images.
What’s most important is at this age, babies don’t lie and don’t care about offending you nor flattering you!
So the next time a baby waves and smiles at you, take it as an affirmation of your attractiveness.
3) You’re doing well in school
And you’re not even putting in much effort!
But before you think you’re just smart, you might need to credit your genes for it, too.
There’s a study showing that attractive students get higher grades at university.
The reason?
Well, sure…it could be because they’re really good. But it could be because they’re good-looking to boot!
According to the study, it’s partly because attractive people are seen as more conscientious and intelligent (even when they’re not).
In fact, they found out that the attractiveness bias is already present during college admissions interviews where attractive students have an edge and are more likely to get accepted.
What this means is that not only are you perceived as more smart, people around you also think you’re honest, hard-working, and disciplined, even when you are all of that.
4) You’re advancing in your career
Are you doing well in your career?
While many like to think it’s just about talent and hard work, the truth is looks come into play, too.
So, yeah…it’s probably not just because you’re good at what you do.
According to this academic review:
“Physically attractive individuals are more likely to be interviewed for jobs and hired.
They are also more likely to advance rapidly in their careers through frequent promotions, and they earn higher wages than unattractive individuals.”
But before you think it’s all about looks, there’s actually a formula to beauty.
According to the book The Beauty Prescription – The Complete Formula For Looking And Feeling Beautiful written by a dermatologist and psychiatrist duo, it’s a whole package.
Their basics apart from physical upkeep?
- Taking care of one’s health
- Engaging one’s passion
- Being surrounded by good people
- Being in a pleasant environment
All these things contribute to being beautiful on the inside and out.
And if you’re thriving in your career, and you receive compliments, it feeds the “brain-beauty loop” of people seeing you positively and reflecting it back to you.
This reinforces positive feelings and makes you look and feel more confident, more charismatic, and therefore, more beautiful.
5) People are more friendly towards you
Do people gravitate towards you?
Do you find yourself getting approached first even though you’re with a group of friends?
It’s probably because you seem the most friendly and approachable.
According to psychology, attractive people are generally perceived as being more sociable.
This is what scientists call the “Halo effect” where good-looking people are perceived to have other good traits—like being more friendly, healthy, successful, honest, and talented.
While you might not believe that you look particularly exceptional, people being more friendly towards you is a sign that other people perceive you as more attractive.
And if people say you look friendly, it’s also a subtle sign that they think you look good.
6) People feel threatened by you
Do you have a feeling that some people are secretly jealous of you?
Do they get overly-competitive?
Do they give you backhanded compliments and show passive-aggressive behavior?
If you’re not doing them any harm, then they’re probably just insecure of you.
They probably worry that because you’re better looking, that you’ll steal their job, their best friend, or even their partner.
It’s also possible that they believe you are getting an unfair advantage over them because of your looks.
So if people are resentful of you for no reason and act like they’re threatened even when you haven’t done anything to provoke it, your above-average looks may be the cause.
7) Some people don’t take you seriously
If you’re good-looking, beauty bias MIGHT have helped you get ahead in life. Just by how significant it’s helped you, we cannot tell for sure.
But it’s also precisely because of the beauty bias that you get discriminated against by certain people—especially by those you work with.
If someone’s pretty and feminine, some people think that they’re not so smart (remember the movie Legally Blonde?)
Some might actually be convinced that you used your looks to charm the boss or client.
Research by Czech scientist Karel Keisner has shown that women are perceived to be more intelligent if they are attractive.
And this can backfire if people start to assume you’re not really as smart because you look better than average.
So if people don’t seem to take you and your ideas seriously, it might be because they believe dealing with attractive people and their ideas always need a grain of salt.
You’ll then have to work harder to convince them that you’re actually good at what you do.
8) Kind people imitate you
Have you noticed your kindest friend or colleague imitating how you make your coffee, how you walk, and even how you talk?
Then that’s a sign you’re more attractive than you think.
A research published by the Scandinavian Psychological Association showed that “the higher the participants’ empathy score, the faster they imitated an attractive person.”
Called “spontaneous imitation,” they will often copy someone they find attractive and will likely be unaware they are doing it.
And while it can be annoying or sometimes downright freaky, all it means is that your friend or colleague might just subconsciously think you’re attractive.
So rather than avoiding them, consider it a compliment.
It’s a different issue though if that person also lacks a sense of self. But if they otherwise have a solid self-esteem and just end up copying some bits of how you move, you’re both likely fine.
So now psychology has confirmed that there is truth in the quote: “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.”
Final thoughts
With all the influencers churning out unrealistic beauty standards on social media, it can get hard to get a clear perspective of one’s self.
So if you don’t think you look great, remember that while it’s reasonable, it’s not realistic.
Rather than focusing on the parts of you that you don’t like, try to look at yourself from a wider perspective.
We’re not going to lie and say “looks don’t matter” because research says it does, but we have to point out that it won’t matter much in terms of happiness.
Not unless you are healthy, surrounded by good friends and positive energy, and are doing something you love and believe it.
So as you come to recognize and nurture your outer beauty, make sure to also cultivate the relationships and habits that make you feel good about yourself.
