Confidence and attractiveness

limetree

Well-known member
On one hand I understand that extreme low self-esteem can make a relationship very difficult since we accept the love we think we deserve. If you are too afraid to be yourself, you sabotage the person others want to spent time with. Trying to replace the real you with an ideal self will be a difficult, inauthentic facade to maintain. What I don't understand however is why confidence is usually considered the most attractive trait according to pop psych propaganda? Anyone here think confidence is overrated?

I'm somewhat confused by this scenario: When a person who others consider ordinary/substandard all of a sudden becomes popular/pulls off a skill that they are not great at just because others perceive them to be confident. Does it make them funnier, prettier, more intelligent etc? Sometimes not, the only difference being that others' opinions don't affect them and they're willing to challenge themselves. Don't get me wrong, this is an admirable trait but not caring what others think can also be reckless and uncompromising without sufficient overlap with arrogance.

Are people just giving pageant answers when they say confidence affects their perception of talent, beauty etc bc it's a generic quality that almost anyone "should be able to" develop? Can you learn to become comfortable with the fact that you have insecurities? I think you can still have self-worth/respect without self-confidence, just being very wary about not coming across arrogant or overestimating yourself.

I dunno I just hate the idea of fake it til you make it, why should you try to hide your insecurities? That would cause more anxiety for me because I'd have to keep up the "I've always got my shit together" act. I find that I become more confident when someone accepts me after I've divulged my vulnerabilities. I don't do this to just anyone obviously, but when I do I'm testing whether they're understanding enough to be worth my time. I am drawn to people with low self-esteem, not bc they're doormats, but they tend to be more accepting, humble and sensitive.

I don't tend to judge people based on who they think they are, but who I perceive them to be regardless. Of course who I perceive them to be is influenced by who they think they are thus project but it's not everything. I know someone who complains about how fat, stupid, ugly he is which is not true, and even the self-deprecating is not off-putting to me. Perhaps I only feel this way bc I'd be hypocritical not to, idk.

I can understand why it's also frustrating, I hate it when someone popular I find beautiful complains about how unlovable they are, I feel as though they're taking themselves for granted. If it's someone who has received their fair share of shit for simply existing though, I will find them much easier to empathise with.

btw this was my first topic post, kinda scary since I'm more used to replying. Believe it or not it's part of my exposure therapy hw- to initiate online conversation once a day for a week with a different source each time, divulging a chunk of my thoughts I would normally keep tucked up inside. I might even muster up the courage to call a friend later.
 
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AmunetSide

Active member
Hey Limetree,

Nice post, this isn’t something that I ever really thought about until now. I’m going to have to go with you and say that, yes, confidence is overrated. To me, there is a very fine line between arrogance and confidence and the only determining factor is whether or not that person can be proud of themselves while at the same time accepting and admitting their insecurities.

However, the “fake it ‘till you make it” routine is something that I can’t bitch about. I do it on a daily basis. I’d be unemployed if I didn’t. But face-to-face time with someone you’re trying to get to know is something else entirely.

With the boss it’s: “Yes, sir. I know exactly what I’m doing, sir, and I’m one hundred percent comfortable and confident.”

With the friends it’s: “I don’t know if I’m any good at this. I’m a little worried. And, incidentally…I feel like an idiot.”

I think confidence is such an important factor in the perception of beauty it’s human nature to believe what we see without asking any additional questions. If someone walks/talks/and acts like they’re the shit…then they must BE the shit. They MUST have something that we don’t. We don’t know what makes them so confident, we don’t know why they act like they do and that’s appealing. Aren’t we attracted to what we don’t know?

Hell if I know, but that’s my long winded/sideways/convoluted theory. It’s 2 AM. I apologize.
 

Satine

Well-known member
One of the best things I've ever done is go to a few London-based fetish nights, and this is why: the people who go there are frequently not massively attractive. These aren't your plastic-looking Hollywood people, just average-lookers. And yet, the lack of self-consciousness these people show is just amazing. Before I walked into the first event, I still felt a bit self-conscious generally. Since I've started going, I can really be happy with how I look. I don't need to look like a model, I've got my own internal resources and strengths and nobody else can see any of those. I'm a tigress in the jungle, and if another person wants to underestimate me because I'm a bit plain then sod 'em! In the fullness of time they'll stand back and be surprised by something I do. That's absolutely fine by me.
 

limetree

Well-known member
Thanks for the reply.

Oh yeah I wasn't thinking about work situations, I guess confidence would be useful then but I'd still feel like a phony and probably would tell the employer that I have SA. :p

Identifying with mediocrity might not be healthy but it's my defense mechanism against criticism. I'm probably writing this from the perspective of "second hand embarrassment" since I've witnessed confident people be torn down bc they act like we're supposed to think they are the shit :p Even the most seemingly bulletproof people can take something to heart so I don't always think it's appropriate to set confidence as the benchmark as if it will solve all your problems, perhaps it even exacerbates a competitive culture.

I also think remaining under the radar gives you more room to surprise people, the only problem being that people are less likely to give you a chance in the first place and that's why I wanted to challenge this notion. You can't know whether someone will end up being who they make themselves out to be; the full picture isn't complete without considering others' constructive criticism of our blind spots and I've been deceived quite a few times by both confident and insecure people in this regard.

Fair enough that people don't have all the time in the world to give everyone an equal chance and confident people will be drawn to confident people, but after reading the "insecure girl" chapter in Travis Stork's book "Don't Be That Girl", I couldn't help being just a tad defensive that insecurity can be managed without the need to turn our entire internal dialogue into positive affirmations.
 

Satine

Well-known member
My grandfather had a saying, 'bide your time'. I think real confidence should come from something genuine, some quality you really have. If you're practically a black box on legs (ie., no bastard has managed to destroy you yet!), then it's worth getting confidence from that. But why crow about it? Others will see you're strong if you're put into a difficult situation, not before.

Hence, 'bide your time'. Sooner or later, a situation will always arise where you can show that you're strong and worthy. And the best thing about it is, you may well not notice it come, because it'll be a difficult situation that you know how to deal with - so you just go ahead and do it. That's the beauty of it.
 

iamthenra

Well-known member
My first date a couple years ago was with a gal that said that I lacked confidence, and to her confidence was very attractive. But in my opinion, since she was my first date, how the heck can someone be confident around the opposite sex if they are totally inexperienced? Doesn't experience usually provide the individual with "confidence"? The more you do something usually the better you get at it, and the more comfortable and confident you become... BUT....if that someone doesn't allow you to date them because you lack confidence, then how the heck can you ever become confident without the practice or experiences??? Kind of a catch 22.
 

Hellhound

Super Moderator
I think it's just another stereotype of many... I find shy people much more interesting and intelligent, and i'm sure i'm not the only one. There's not a general rule that says that, in order to be more attractive in other people's eyes, you must be confident, there's many other personality traits that might make you atractive. Being nice, understanding and intelligent could make a person attractive. Even shyness could make you attractive.
 

Honk

Well-known member
To me at least, confidence is just an aspect of one's character.
 
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Krista

Well-known member
Wow, thank you. That's just what I needed to hear since that's what my whole entire perception sometimes is based upon. Not of course, being perfect or having mounds of confidence which I don't. I'm constantly avoiding situations where I meet new people because I'm immensely afraid of how they'll perceive me, I always feel like I have to look my best for them, even if I don't know them. And once I do get my courage worked up enough to go and meet new people I find that I try to remember "people are attracted to a confident girl" but I can't pretend confidence when I have none. So it's just a cycle, I meet them and become so worried that in their head they're thinking all these horrible things about me that I shut down. I don't meet eye contact with anyone, I sit by myself and I won't talk from total fear. Well that only draws more unwanted attention my way because people think I'm acting to arrogant to talk to them or that I'm rude.

My friends know I'm a great person and when a guy becomes interested in me and wants to spend time with the person he thinks he knows, he gets someone totally different because I tense up and can't be carefree. He doesn't know how to react to the girl he thinks he knows. But telling someone all this only scares them away.
 
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limetree

Well-known member
Good post Serafina, ime pretending to be confident doesn't always lead you to feel confident. It's a bigger leap for shy people so sometimes we have to take a different route to feeling more comfortable in our own skin. When I moved to a new school one of the teachers said to me "I think you'll fit in great here, you come across quite sure of yourself" and in my head I was spazzing "nonono, you can't learn from being right." :p

I don't mean to say that authentically confident people don't deserve the respect they receive, just that it shouldn't be at the expense of those who don't quite have it yet or want to define confidence according to their own niche.
 
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