Let’s be honest, we love to judge. It’s second nature to take someone at face value and make assumptions about them.
In social science, this phenomenon is called schema are mental structures that an individual uses to organize knowledge and guide cognitive processes and behaviour. So what that means, is that we use Schema to categorize objects and events based on common elements and characteristics and thus interpret and predict the world. New information is processed according to how it fits into these mental structures, or rules. So, you see a man in a dark alley way holding a knife, and instead of having to stop and think about it, you immediately think “danger”!
Here’s the thing though, while face value assumptions can be helpful, they can also be counter-productive and even destructive.
Take Danyelle Haigh – at first sight, we see this gorgeous blonde woman, beautifully dressed, with nice jewellry, and her hair, makeup and nails done. The kind of woman who stands out in a crowd with her bubbly laugh and unfiltered comments.
This isn’t an act. Danyelle is as authentic as they come. And in this episode, I sat down with her to learn more about the real Danyelle, not the one we predetermine in our minds.
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