Part 5 (1/2)

However, interviewers can easily be biased too Char, lively, attractive people leave better impressions than their introverted, shy, less attractive but equally competent counterparts Hence the structured selection interview The traditional, ra, unstructured interview relies on instinct and intuition and feeds prejudice, particularly judge, which may or may not be relevant to the job They are desperately unreliable and invalid The structured interview is different It ensures that all candidates are asked identical questions in the same order In addition, the questions are lie and skills Further, when evaluating the candidate after the interview, a consistent logical andsystem is used The interviewers are also trained in what to look for, thus the structured interview certainly ainst those who are less attractive

So there are two morals here: one for the interviewer and one for the interviewee With litigation mania and ever more lawsuits around fairness in selection, it pays to introduce structured interviews In short, thisactuarially rather than intuitively For the interviewee: attending Weight Watchers, wearing h-heeled shoes, whatever works for you, can make a difference

Perhaps beauty is not in the eye of the beholder after all But it pays to know that books are judged by their covers In this sense, we co about We can dye our hair and have plastic surgery We can have laser surgery on our eyes, wear contact lenses or spectacles of e, values, wealth and status by hoe present ourselves to the world We ”make a statement” with our looks alone

LIPSTICK INDEX AND FOUNDATION FACTOR

It has been known for so bad ti lipsticks brands jumped up immediately after 9/11, and the recession current at the ti has proved to be particularly successful for sales of liquid foundation

These facts do not co Many speculate thattimes of instability Others are eneral trend of downsizing in a recession: it makes economic sense to buy an inexpensive lipstick to spice up an already-worn outfit than to spend money on a new dress

Either way, make-up's primary function is to reduce or draw attention to facial features Lipstick helps women to ”paint on a smile”; and it accentuates and corrects the shape of the lips Foundation's main purpose is to create a flawless coloholesome and fresh Overall, it is all to do with beauty, which, in turn, is associated with youth and fecundity, and these qualities are desirable whatever the current state of economic affairs

DRESS

The whole fashi+on business is designed to enable people to send signals about wealth, taste and values, as well as to roup statements (that is, who is in the tribe, who are ”their people”) Clothesvisual statement about how you see yourself They are the value system of the individual made visible Notice the way that jewelry, watches, spectacles and so on arethe communication functions of each ite business people about which colors they should choose or avoid, as well as about types of material and clothes that will make theroup

Badges, rings or cufflinks can indicate allegiance to groups or to organizations often educational that one has been associated with in the past Ties, for ns), hus), as well as club membershi+p One of the American investment banks, for example, pioneered ”pink shi+rt Fridays” for their ee loyalty and pro Spectacles can be used to eive an impression of studiousness, frivolity or practicality Theand accessories crocodile-skin products, ivory or fur, for exaical values, or lack of them Fashi+on consciousness the keen sense of what is currently in (and out) is another signal that ” seeks to inificance People tend to accentuate and hide certain features in order to attract or distract The signalling syste fro, inevitably leads to so lost or mixed up

We have all had the e at a party either overor under-dressed It is enal our expectations about for under-dressed can insult the hosts; while being over-dressed insults your intelligence Both affe

sexuality, power and wealth nalled by subtle dress-code cues, but only those ”in the know” can pick these up Ultinals personality and values es One can also make ”fashi+on statements”, but only the fashi+on-conscious will be able to read them There is also the rather sad spectacle of the ”fashi+on victi systee of dress but it is too crude a communication system to be particularly useful

So aware” than others It has been suggested that clothing choice and awareness relate to:manipulation: people can wear outfits aimed at deception for their own ends;social class: better-educated people froher social class are soh some ”at the top” flout clothes sense while some ”at the bottom” are extremely clothessensitive;self-concept: clothes are a second skin and reveal confidence;social values: clothes can indicate conservatism or radicalism, and where one stands on the practical/impractical (sensible/creative) dimension;, or pay little heed to their appearance

Clothing has an effect on both wearer and observer Peoplein others It has been deive information to someone if you like the way he or she is dressed The fact that clothes affect the wearer is eood”

Unifor services, for exaest not only cleanliness and efficiency but also status and rank Clients prefer to see their professionals dressed in a certain way to indicate the latters' education and kno, and to signal an appropriate relationshi+p between ”the choice at work may be severely limited by dress codes even by ”dress-down” days, on which people are required to wear ”casual” clothes Dress ”off duty” , because it is less constrained The idea is that your clothes not only reflect your attitude but also influence it People are supposedlydown, in theory, lowers stress, blurs false barriers between ”Chiefs and Indians” and pro This may or may not be true, and requires verification and specification: when, for whom, where, and why

What are the rules for, and effects of, dress? So a sue outside the military Not only are the unifororous rules about such aspects as how they wear their hair; how ernail length and color

Various organizations, such as rail coave up uniforms, have reintroduced thees First, staff are easily identifiable It's often e several people (customers) for assistance before you find the person you need (actual staff) Second, you can (usually) distinguish the person in charge; that is, unifornal of rank Third, uniforo and literally make the brand come alive

Some uniforms are as much functional as fashi+onable Others are iene or safety On the other hand, soanizations either have dated, tacky uniforms that few could ith pride, or allow staff to add idiosyncratic touches Fast-food outlets often have semi-uniformed staff

Read a child's storybook and you will see that everyone on the high street seems to have an outfit The baker with his tall hat; the butcher with his apron; the tailor with his tapethat many people have come to expect their professionals to be dressed in a particular way Indeed, there are strong associations evoked by various types of clothes (see Table 31) A few years ago the British Journal of Psychiatry published a paper showing six pictures of male and female doctors They went fro around the shoulder to the completely dresseddown doctor in ”smart casual” wear What did people prefer? They liked the professional medical look with the white coat the best

TABLE 31 Interpretations of various modes of dress Some people are lucky to have attire choice at work: the lecturers may choose to wear smart suits or casual outfits There is also choice within the uniform Sometimes there are uniforms for special occasions People expect and like to see a university's Vice Chancellor in full finery for a graduation, or undertakers in old-fashi+oned foranizations follows a spoken, or rather an unspoken code Dress code is part of the corporate culture and soanization Certain things are de rigueur and some are taboo It has been said that you had to be very rich, very senior (or very stupid) to wear a brown suit or brown shoes in the City

They used to say ”If you want to get ahead, get a hat” Perhaps that applies to all apparel: dress for success Dress alone is not enough to becoe of status, professionalisiance It is a communication system, as all fashi+on-conscious people know

COLOR

People color their hair, they have preferred colors in their wardrobe Sohly saturated colors Skin color for centuries has been a carrier of

The saht, saturated red; Barclays a distinctive turquoise; Lufthansa a goldish-yellow, and BP a range of greenish yellows Aer Lingus's green has changed over the years, as did Air Canada's red

In our culture there are color codes Red is the color for danger: it ether round is the optiibility Green nage

There are idio ”off color”, ”co under false colors” There is also ”feeling blue” and being ”green with envy”

Yet a lot of nonsense is spoken about color This is the evidencefree, naively enthusiastic world of color therapy and color consultants There is an arnoses and interventions and claie by the use of color: you can becoreens or muted blues; appear more secure if you coht accents” of gold, ivory or white

Color can be used for several purposes It can enhance various perceptual effects like distance, te things closer” while blue and green help e and yellow ireen (reen in particular) is ressive You er through colored paint or light Or you may make a cold room look and ”feel” cosy

Color is known to also affect th end of the spectruh arousal, while short wavelength colors such as blue and green induce feelings of calm A number of studies have made comparisons of the arousal properties of various pairs of colors Thus, violet has been shown to produce greater arousal than green; red produces reater arousal than either blue or green The above deical arousal At a more subjective level, it has also been found that people feel e and yellow than by green and blue Blue tends to associatecal association at a psychological level with such descriptions of how one feels

Further, color can influence hoell people learn new things or perfor, for exaories of things and actions (eg hot/cold, on/off) Coding has helped people develop uides to help thes Color can help to attract or direct attention to different aspects and features of cora and performance The different arousal properties of colors can also be useful War, facilitate activity andcircu It has been found that so on complicated mental tasks, while war, repetitive things

Sometimes color also affects behavior but usually only under certain circumstances Work with thecan produce different reactions and patterns of behavior aenta had a quieting effect in one study, while its replaceeteffect which was noticed by staff and patients alike Yellow used with depressed patients had a slight sti effect, and red produced even more stimulation

The color of ink has been found to affect handwriting: handwriting with green ink is nearer to normal than when done with red ink The perforhting color One study, which exa at factory machines, hts White was best, while colored lighting produced signs of nervous excite effect of red or a soothing effect of blue

Thus color can, indeed, be used effectively to change stiency and safety and, of course, improve the aesthetic beauty of the environentially, spasnitive mechanisms That is, moods and memories are most obviously affected by color There are, nevertheless, clear and consistent findings on color associations and preferences

Fereater preference for red, violet and yellow and a greater dislike of green than hter colors than do males Still, we don't know if this is true in other cultures and other historical periods, or indeed why this sex difference occurs There is evidence that color preference is culturally learnt, as different colors have very different associations across different cultures This inevitably lis

Extraverts tend to prefer arousing, war colors (for exaht, pure colors, whereas introverts prefer more subtle shades Sensation-seekers prefer red, while sensation-avoiders prefer blue

Young children seem to associate different colors with different eer, and pain with red and black; happiness, strength and ”life” with blue; and honesty hite As they get older, children shi+ft away from a preference for warmer colors (especially yellow) to cooler colors (in particular, blue)