They say that first impressions matter, but do we know just to what extent? When we first see someone. Within seconds, your brain has subconsciously assessed somebody for likeability, trustworthiness and personality factors. And whether you like it or not, that means people are doing the same about you.
Perhaps this is why people put so much thought into signs of outward appearance like clothing, hair and accessories (to varying degrees!). After all, it can feel not only essential but fun to manipulate our appearance to make a statement. You can experiment with everything from hair colour to eye colour… yes, eye colour!
Table of Contents
The Psychology of Eye Colour Perception
One study conducted among over 1,000 women found that people commonly associate brown eyes with intelligence, practicality and a kind nature. While the study’s participants rated blue eyes highly for kindness and attractiveness, only 7% associated them with intelligence.
While this is just one study, shows us that we make judgements on a subconscious level about more things than we might realise.
Changing eye colour: modern techniques and trends
Some people experiment with changing their eye colour, both in temporary and permanent ways. This can include anything from coloured contact lenses, to iris implants and gene editing technologies.
Sometimes people do this because they have had an injury to their eye, and sometimes the reasons are purely cosmetic.
Addressing the psychological and societal impacts
While it can be fun to play around with eye colour, it can become a problem if it’s based on a deeper self-image issue.
It is currently possible to test for eye colour, handedness, addictive behaviour and other traits in unborn children, but this raises serious ethical concerns.
The Mental Health Foundation has found that body image issues are the third biggest challenge that young people in the 16-25 year-old age group face is body image issues.
Most of these issues can be broken down into concerns about weight and the overall shape and tone of the body.
The media can have a drastic influence on this. 25% of young people saying that celebrities have caused them to feel worried about their body image.
There isn’t much information about whether eye colour is a major cause of body image concerns. If it affects you, don’t be afraid to talk to someone you trust, or a mental health professional.
But if you feel like your mindset is healthy and you just want to have some fun experimenting with coloured contact lenses that change the colour of your eyes temporarily, don’t be afraid to go for it!