Sarah Bond: The Schema Violator

According to Solomon Asch (1946), the presence of some traits--central traits--lead us to make assumptions about what other traits someone might have.  For example, when you meet someone for the first time and you notice that they have a "warm" personality, you might also assume that they are caring, nurturing, etc.

In my Conformity, Deviance, and Identity class this semester, we've also been discussing our perceptions of other people.  We've been talking about how society groups people into categories.  One of the main category subsets, or central traits, we've been talking about is gender.  For example, when we see a person with long hair and a petite figure who is wearing a skirt, we might assume that this person 1) is biologically female, 2) identifies as a woman, 3) is heterosexual (among other many traits).  Our conversation about central traits and assumptions made me wonder what people assume about me. 

I am a non-cisgender person who dresses in "men's" clothing.  I violate people's schemas about what men and women look like, dress like, and act like.   Do people see that I am ambiguously-gendered and make assumptions about my other traits?  (well of course they do)  Do people think that because of my gender expression I am also annoyingly-opinionated, radical, feminist, or über-liberal?  

I am now realizing why my dad hounds me about wearing nice, professional clothes to interviews, or really any interaction that necessitates a good first impression.  I realize now that in a 5-minute conversation, or even seconds-worth of observation, we group people into categories, make assumptions about their personalities, and make positive or negative evaluations about their overall character.  

Thus, I am in conflict: I know that people will make assumptions about me because of my relatively radical gender expression, but does that mean I should change the way I look?  Do I care about what other people assume?  According to the paradigm of belief perseverance, one's initial belief about  an issue often remains unchanged even in the face of contrary evidence (Gallup Poll Editors, 2002).  Thus, I should change how I look and how I behave so as not to violate schemas and create a "negative" first impression that will persevere regardless of introduction to my warm personality.  However, the rebel in me (and psych major that is aware of our occasionally erroneous first impressions of others) says that assumption-makers can screw themselves.  My gender expression is perfect.

Asch, S.E. (1946).  Effects of group pressure upon the modification and distortion of judgments.  In H. Guetzkow (Ed.), Groups, leadership, and men.  Pittsburgh, PA: Carnegie Press.

Gallup Poll Editors (2002).  Gallup poll of the Islamic world: Subscriber report.  Princeton, NJ: Gallup Press.