Can you judge someone from their shoes?

A new study out this week claims we really can judge someone from their shoes.

I’ve heard this before, and I do take a little notice of people’s footwear depending on the occasion.

In the past when I’ve interviewed candidates at work, I’ve given their shoes a sneaky glance, as chances are a conscientious person will be wearing clean, smart footwear in order to make a good impression.

Although, the same can be said for the entire outfit to be honest.

Researchers at the University of Kansas found that people were able to correctly judge a stranger’s gender, income, age, political beliefs, and other emotional personality traits by simply looking at their shoes.

The study, published in the August edition of the Journal of Research in Personality, showed that 90 per cent of the shoe owner’s personality could often be told by simply looking at what they wore on their feet.

It concluded that, whether they intended to or not, people do wear shoes that reveal their personality, and once you look at the findings, some are fairly obvious.

Expensive-looking shoes were matched with high earners, while colourful footwear belonged to extroverts.

Practical and functional shoes were owned by agreeable people, while those with more aggressive personality tended to wear ankle boots.

Generally speaking I’d say that confident, ambitious and often aggressive women are more likely to wear the highest heels around the office, with laidback ladies preferring flats.

The report claimed: “Shoes serve a practical purpose, and also serve as nonverbal cues with symbolic messages.

“People tend to pay attention to the shoes they and others wear.”

I can’t say that someone’s shoes would really play a huge role in how I judge them, but this research clearly shows that a lot can be learnt from your style of footwear.

What do you think your shoes say about you?

Posted by Mandy Jones