I try to never make snap assumptions/judgements about anyone, BUT..I do notice ones overall posture, expression, presentation and can tell in an instant the basic state of their energy/self esteem.

Sort of. When I’m at work, seeing a small herd of jabbering adults moving my way sparks resentment: I just know that they’re going to mess up my case, or make a wholly reasonable demand that I’m tired of hearing.

Curiously, every single time that I try to preempt a customer’s question (I am asked “when will the chickens be ready” some dozen times per day), it turns out that they wanted something else.

Yes, but I try not to.

You can’t help it – it’s your subconscious working, but you can help control it.
Try reading the book Blink – it explains a lot of it.

Since I’m going to be a social worker I have to learn how to not assume things about people and be empathic and such. I am a naturally empathic person, but it’s natural to assume.

I assess possibilities and probabilities, and wait to be surprised. I try never to make a judgments, as I am constantly acquiring new evidence. I approach everyone for the first time with empathy and equal-opportunity suspicion.

I never judge, and would hope nobody would ever judge me.
I would perhaps notice what someone is wearing, whether they had a smile on their face or whether they look sad, but that is all.

I try to approach every situation with understanding and compassion. Having been through more than a few scrapes of my own and needing that compassion from other people…

Do unto others as you’d have them do unto you.

I think we all do subconsciously, we have cognitive schemas for different types of people (akin to stereotypes), and there is some kind of implicit association I am sure of it. On the conscious level, I try to give most people the benefit of the doubt and assume I know nothing about them.

Doesn’t everybody? Everyone judges people and assumes things about people to some degree. I believe it is human nature.

Well aside from the obvious – he’s dangerous, and she’s hot, yes. Yes, I do.

I tend to think blondes are smart, redheads are interesting, Asian women are mild (yeah, I know exceptions), Goth girls have things to say.

Oh and men. They’re probably not going to be that interesting.

I try never to assume anything ever. I’ve had so many things assumed about me over the years (ie: she has to take anti depressants… she’s nuts) and I’m painfully aware of how hurtful that can be. I treat everyone across the other side of my checkout exactly the same, a big smile and a friendly hello and mostly folk are lovely (people do respond positively to a smile I’ve found) and the odd one or two who persist in being rude…. well…. they still get my huge smile and I always hope that it’ll rub off and cheer them up :-)

When I see a man (or woman) wearing a stained wife beater tank (or tube top) with jeans hanging so low I can see their crack, with bad posture, black teeth, an unlit cigarette dangling from their lip or tucked behind their ear (and I’ve been a smoker for 19 years), scratching their ass or “fronties”, in a checkout line with a case of beer and a carton of cigarettes, but they’re paying for groceries with food stamps, I automatically assume they’re a loser.

Other than that I try to not make snap judgements…

I’m with @WillWorkForChocolate. I suppose they could be buying the beer for and taking the cigarette to someone.

@faye If they’re wearing a Nascar Is My God t-shirt and their ballcap looks as though it’s been used as a spitoon, I seriously doubt the beer and cigs are for someone else. :P DISCLAIMER: I am not knocking Nascar. I really miss Dale Earnhardt, but some people just carry things a bit too far, lol.

I ditto @Coloma‘s statement, exactly.

I look at the face and the eyes and the posture and a snap judgement is instantly made. It is not within my control. My opinion will then be modified or changed as I get to know the person better but my first impression is usually quite accurate.

I make instant assumptions on people after 0.001 seconds of seeing them. I come across thousands of people everyday and I make thousands of instant judgements. However, this doesn’t mean that I don’t approach people with an open mind. I treat everyone that I meet equally, except my superiors of course.

Of course, you can’t help it.

Sure I do. I’m always curious as to why the first impressions and then wonder what’s really going on, the myriad possibilities of lifestyle and life story. I like people watching.

I think I probably make snap judgments about people, but I stay open about them until I see behavior that reinforces my opinion or refutes it entirely. You can’t really tell about people because of the way they look. I often talk to the person ahead or behind me and am sometimes pleasantly surprised. A person I’d thought to be a rough and tough guy, turned out to be quite gentle and peace loving. We shared a laugh about the food shopping experience and wished each other a good day as he left with his wife and baby. On the other hand, a woman who was well dressed and cultured looking and her adult daughter looked rudely down their noses at me when I made a comment. I hadn’t figured the possibility of snobbishness.

If I see men dressed in sheets and it ain’t Halloween or a frat nearby, I assume it might be healthy for me to vacate the premises pret-ty darn quickly.

All jokes aside, though, people who work closely with the public often develop a habit of quickly sizing up people to determine whether those people are potentially dangerous. I know that what I did as a cab driver. Regardless of what anyone said about discrimination, the look of a person determined whether of not they were getting in my cab. To do otherwise might mean someone would be carrying you home in a body bag.

I often find myself snap judgements about people but that doesn’t mean that I don’t treat them with the respect that I would like to be treated with myself.

@WillWorkForChocolate In England, we call people like the type you described “Pikey’s”. They deserve to be judged!!