Falling into stereotypes, deciding through heuristics, putting labels… Human beings are not very fond of trying to know as much as possible about people before getting an idea about them. That’s what we’re going to talk about today.

Judging others: a common occurrence

It is not uncommon to judge others by knowing little about them. Although we do not like to be misjudged, it is common to judge other people all the time. We are judged and we judge ourselves constantly , even many times without realizing the damage we do. Worst of all, we spend so much time judging others that we often don’t invest the necessary time in looking at ourselves and recognizing our own limitations .

In order to understand the causes of why we judge or criticize others , scientists have long been investigating which areas of the brain act when we do.

We rely on prejudices and trivia

Neuroscientist Rebecca Saxe, a researcher specializing in the analysis of the neural and psychological bases of social cognition at the Massachusetts Institute of Medicine, found that there is a particular area of the brain that is activated when we try to understand why others act the way they do . This area is called the temporoparietal junction , and is located between the temporal lobe and the parietal lobe of the brain. This region appears to play a key role in the processes of distinction between the self and others .

On the other hand, a curious study published in Trend in Cognitives Sciences , states that citizens value a person’s intentions and attribute a certain personality or character to him or her based largely on the features of his or her face . In this way, they argue that people tend to make important decisions, from voting for a politician to blaming or judging someone without knowing them, based on such arbitrary and subtle elements as facial features.

10 reasons not to judge others

Since judging others in the wrong way can be harmful, in today’s article we give you some tips on how not to judge others . Let’s get started.

1. Think before you act

Many times we let ourselves be carried away by what external appearances tell us and other times we let ourselves be carried away by hunches . It is important that we stop for a few seconds and analyze the situation well. If we are going to judge someone, let it be with all the evidence on the table.

2. Practice Mindfulness

Mindfulness is a third generation therapy that is based on techniques born from Buddhism. But Mindfulness, far from being a technique, is a philosophy that has as a premise: not to judge others or oneself. It has been demonstrated that adopting an attitude of compassion and non-judgment positively affects the well-being of the person who practices this philosophy.

3. No one is perfect

Try to be more tolerant of others . You may not approve of something someone has done, but unless it is something horrible, live and let live. Everyone is wrong, it is not good to judge others because you think you would do otherwise.

4. Remember that we are not all the same

Continuing with the previous point, not everyone is the same. Everyone is different and deserves respect. The culture, the family, the friends, the education we receive, we all have a different story to tell . Just because you don’t like something doesn’t mean it’s wrong. We are equal in the difference, we must respect each other and try to help each other.

5. Look at yourself

If instead of spending more time judging and criticizing others, you spend more time observing yourself you will realize that you are not perfect either . If you understand that we all make mistakes, you may be more tolerant of others.

6. Feel good about yourself

When we are able to understand ourselves better and accept both our strengths and our weaknesses, we not only develop greater compassion for ourselves but also for others in general. People who are happy do not need to attack others .

7. Open up

Being a person with an open and tolerant mind says a lot about you. Showing a positive attitude towards others makes communication much easier . Besides, you are sure to meet interesting people if you are tolerant and open-minded.

8. Thinks appearances can be deceiving

Thinking badly or giving opinions about someone, both for good and bad, without knowing absolutely nothing about them, without knowing them, without giving them a single opportunity, is wrong. You have to take time to get to know people well before making judgements about them .

9. Remember that judging can hurt

Nobody likes to be misjudged. If you don’t like it, don’t do it to others . It is the golden rule and we should all respect it. Think of times when someone might have hurt you because you were prejudiced. Are you going to do the same thing to other people?

10. You are not always right

When you judge others, even if you believe you possess the absolute truth, that is not true . Things happen for many reasons and often you don’t know the half of the story. For example, you may meet an attractive girl who has a cold attitude towards you. You may have had an experience in the past that makes you more cautious about meeting boys. If you judge her to be inconsiderate, you may be mistaken.