Here’s a new wrinkle on the interview front. According to a report in the Roanoke Times, how you part your hair has an impact on your job interview. Catherine Walker, a cultural anthropologist, has devised a theory with her brother John that how you part your hair could have an impact on how people perceive you.
Okay. This may not be earth-shattering news. I, for one, find Donald Trump’s hairdo very intimidating. However, according to their “Hair-Part Theory,” Walker and her brother have determined that men who part their hair on the left are favored by the majority of men. The part is perceived as traditional and therefore strong, successful, friendly, and popular. And men who part their hair on the right are perceived as being defensive and weak, or radical and atypical.
The same study shows that women who part their hair on the left are perceived as popular and trustworthy, where women who part their hair on the right are considered more gentle and feminine (read docile and pushovers).
And then there is the middle group. If you don’t part your hair because you are bald or for some other reason, then you are considered to have a balanced personality. It’s interesting that neither President Obama nor Senator McCain part their hair.
So what are you supposed to “do”? According to the research, the “hair-part theory” reveals that the best hairdo is the anchorman-do – a super-short cut requiring styling gel. This is the look favored by politicians, but whether you can engender trust in your next job interview with a new coiffure is still open to speculation.
