# Your perception of you vs. the perception of you by others. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 8, 2003, 9:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-perception-of-you-vs-the-perception-of-you-by-others/180434 "2003-06-08T09:44:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Aslan\_of\_Narnia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecd19e/32.png) [@Aslan\_of\_Narnia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aslan_of_Narnia)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2003, 9:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-perception-of-you-vs-the-perception-of-you-by-others/180434/1 "2003-06-08T09:44:58Z")
I heard that people percieve people quite differently from what that person sees when the look in the mirror; Like a beautful person being percieved or “seen” as ugly by some, beautiful by others. And think it was said it’s not really based on peoples opinions, more how the percieve someone thru the brain. Does this have any scientific validity/proof? Also, I remember hearing about a mirror that shows what you look like, that works like the above, showing what other people see when they look at you. Does such a mirror exist and are their any tesimonials for the results of using it to view oneself? ---
**Author:** ![raygirvan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ac91a4/32.png) [@raygirvan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raygirvan)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2003, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-perception-of-you-vs-the-perception-of-you-by-others/180434/2 "2003-06-08T10:50:38Z")
If you place two flat mirrors at right angles, you get a mirror that doesn’t reverse left and right. The effect is a little strange. ---
**Author:** ![Aslan\_of\_Narnia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecd19e/32.png) [@Aslan\_of\_Narnia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aslan_of_Narnia)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2003, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-perception-of-you-vs-the-perception-of-you-by-others/180434/3 "2003-06-08T11:04:41Z")
Did you do that yourself? How was the effect strange?How is it different from a normal mirror? ---
**Author:** ![Amberlei](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e56c9b/32.png) [@Amberlei](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amberlei)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2003, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-perception-of-you-vs-the-perception-of-you-by-others/180434/4 "2003-06-08T11:57:45Z")
When you look into a mirror, the image you see is the reverse of yourself. Go stand in front of a mirror and raise your right hand. It will look as if your reflection is raising it’s left hand. If you’re facing someone, however, and raise your right hand, it wil appear to them as if you’ve in fact raised your right hand, not your left. This accounts for why others perceive you as looking differently than you perceive yourself to look. Haven’t you ever looked into a photograph and thought, wow, that doesn’t look like me at all? When you put two mirrors at right angles and look at the reflection of one through the other, you perceive yourself as others do. The reason for this is that you’re seeing a reflection of a reflection. The left hand which appears raised in the first mirror is reversed in the second, so that it appears as if your right hand is raised. Hope this made sense. ---
**Author:** ![raygirvan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ac91a4/32.png) [@raygirvan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raygirvan)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2003, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-perception-of-you-vs-the-perception-of-you-by-others/180434/5 "2003-06-09T00:26:42Z")
**Aslan2** , this product - [True Mirror](http://www.truemirror.com) (non reversing designer mirrors) - may be what you heard about. ---
**Author:** ![iaboy12](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ccd318/32.png) [@iaboy12](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iaboy12)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2003, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-perception-of-you-vs-the-perception-of-you-by-others/180434/6 "2003-06-09T02:28:01Z")
Look at a picture of yourself. That is the way other people see you. It is suppose to be one reason why people often don’t like pictures of themselves (of course, for others it is just false modesty). ---
**Author:** ![Yersinia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/6bbea6/32.png) [@Yersinia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yersinia)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2003, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-perception-of-you-vs-the-perception-of-you-by-others/180434/7 "2003-06-09T16:29:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by iaboy12 \* > \*\*Look at a picture of yourself. That is the way other people see you. It is suppose to be one reason why people often don’t like pictures of themselves (of course, for others it is just false modesty). \*\* Yes, this is what I was beginning to suspect, i.e., pictures of me being how other people see me – 9 out of 10 pictures of me are positively awful, even on days I thought I looked good (as determined by what I saw in the mirror hours or minutes before the whatever-it-was party or other event) where pictures were taken. But when I saw the pictures, I was completely horrified – I was thinking, “I know I’m no beauty queen, but can I possibly be THIS ugly!?” However, if photographs really are the measure, then I am. :::::sigh::::: In any case, I’m at the point now where if I see anyone with a camera, I disappear at warp speed and re-enter later, with a cautious look about me to make sure the shutterbug is finished. ---
**Author:** ![Achernar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2003, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-perception-of-you-vs-the-perception-of-you-by-others/180434/8 "2003-06-09T16:35:51Z")
How is the left-right reversal that big of a deal? Aren’t you people symmetric? I always assumed the reason people look better in mirrors than in photos is that when you can see yourself, you can make minor adjustments to your pose, even if subconsciously. ---
**Author:** ![Yersinia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/6bbea6/32.png) [@Yersinia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yersinia)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2003, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-perception-of-you-vs-the-perception-of-you-by-others/180434/9 "2003-06-09T16:59:11Z")
**Achernar** , I know this isn’t related to what you said, but you wouldn’t happen to have gotten your screen name from the Romulan in Carolyn Clowes’ Star Trek novel “The Pandora Principle,” would you have? (That’s one of my favorites, too.) 😉 However…so far as I can see – in the mirror at least – I’m symmetrical. But that doesn’t make me photogenic. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![pasunejen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/58956e/32.png) [@pasunejen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pasunejen)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2003, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-perception-of-you-vs-the-perception-of-you-by-others/180434/10 "2003-06-09T18:40:36Z")
Nobody’s perfectly symmetrical, and while this may not make a person unattractive, all the little differences can add up–I remember looking at images in a mirror vs. photographs in a book and being really surprised at just how different (relatively) people looked. ---
**Author:** ![Achernar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2003, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-perception-of-you-vs-the-perception-of-you-by-others/180434/11 "2003-06-09T19:19:12Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Yersinia \* > **Achernar** , > > I know this isn’t related to what you said, but you wouldn’t happen to have gotten your screen name from the Romulan in Carolyn Clowes’ Star Trek novel “The Pandora Principle,” would you have? (That’s one of my favorites, too.) > > 😉 No I didn’t, but I’ll bet we’re both named after [the same thing](http://www.winshop.com.au/annew/Achernar.html) (Note: I hate astrology, but that site has a lot of information. :)). ---
**Author:** ![Yersinia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/6bbea6/32.png) [@Yersinia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yersinia)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2003, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-perception-of-you-vs-the-perception-of-you-by-others/180434/12 "2003-06-10T02:55:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Achernar \* > \*\*No I didn’t, but I’ll bet we’re both named after [the same thing](http://www.winshop.com.au/annew/Achernar.html) (Note: I hate astrology, but that site has a lot of information. :)). \*\* Well, I don’t know what possessed her to name that Romulan character Achernar (and actually, I was kind of disappointed that she didn’t make up something that might have fit with Diane Duane’s Rihannsu naming schemes, but I’ll stop here lest I start scaring people with my level of Star Trek geekiness). Anyway – thanks for the link and the info. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![iaboy12](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ccd318/32.png) [@iaboy12](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iaboy12)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2003, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-perception-of-you-vs-the-perception-of-you-by-others/180434/13 "2003-06-10T04:16:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Yersinia \* > \*\*“I know I’m no beauty queen, but can I possibly be THIS ugly!?” However, if photographs really are the measure, then I am. :::::sigh::::: > > \*\* I haven’t seen you, but you probably aren’t as ugly as you think you look in a photograph. Remember, that is the way that everybody else is used to seeing you. Their perception of you is probably about the same as your perception of yourself in a mirror. We are basically symmetrical, but there are subtle variations, many of which your brain picks up on but you don’t notice consciencely, that you are used to seing on one side and are suddenly reversed in a picture. ---
**Author:** ![Freiheit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e8c25b/32.png) [@Freiheit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freiheit)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2003, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-perception-of-you-vs-the-perception-of-you-by-others/180434/14 "2003-06-10T04:31:15Z")
I’ve always thought what Achernar thinks. Photographs: we look fatter in two dimensions. For a scientific analysis of beauty, try [beautycheck.de](http://beautycheck.de) .