Looks Can Be Deceiving: The Illusion of Trusting the Good-Looking

The liking bias is simple to understand and yet we continually fall prey to it. It means that the more we like someone, the more we are inclined to buy from or help that person. This rule is used in hundreds of ways by total strangers to get us to comply with their requests.

According to research, we see people as pleasant if; they are outwardly attractive, if they are similar to us in origin, personality, or interests, and if they like us. Recent findings have proved that good-looking people have an unfair advantage in social interactions.

Social scientists call it the Halo effect when one positive characteristic of a person dominates the way that person is viewed by others. Research has shown that we automatically assign favorable traits to good-looking people such as kindness, honesty, talent, and intelligence.

We are making a huge judgment based on physical attractiveness without being aware of it. The consequences of this unconscious assumption that "good-looking people equals good" are scary. We are more likely to get persuaded by good-looking people because of this Halo effect.

https://psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1037%2Fh0081881/

APA PsycNet

Another influence is similarity: We like people who are similar to us. This fact seems to hold true whether the similarity is in the area of opinions, personality traits, background, or lifestyle. Dress is a good example, we are more likely to help those who dress like us.

Another way persuaders can increase our compliance is by claiming that their backgrounds, origins, or interests are similar to ours. In turn, this increases our trust in them, making us more likely to buy from them or accept their requests. Good salespeople are experts at this.

Being complimented also quickly increases compliance. The information that someone fancies us can be an effective device for producing return liking & willing compliance. We are phenomenon suckers of flattery. Sometimes people will believe praise even when they know it is false.

Familiarity affects liking. Often we don't realize that our attitude toward something is influenced by the number of times we've been exposed to it in the past. Association with both good and bad things will cause us to like or dislike someone.

How To Say No: Our watch should be geared not at things that may cause an undue liking for a compliance practitioner, but rather at recognizing when we feel ourselves liking the practitioner more than we should under the circumstances.

We should be more concerned about the merit of the deal rather than the good looks, familiarity, or if an individual like us or not. Take your time making decisions and extend the decision-making process to consider other factors as well.

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