Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-03-01


by baby-blue eyes and golden-glinting
hair, not because they are any different
in mind or temperament from their
dusky- haired sisters.
Certain characteristics, it is true, COM
monty spoken of as blonde traits" but when
blondes and brunettes are measured against one
another in cold. scientific fashion it turns out
that Mother Nature is quite impartial with such
traits.
Prof Donald G. Paterson of the University of
Minnesota, who is a psychologist and also o
statistician, made the comparison in this way:
He got "a intelligent, educated persons to give
him independent judgments on the traits of
total of 1877 blondes and 1877 brunettes. The
results were quite surprising to any one who
believes he can tell character by observing
coloring.
1t was the following statement by DR. Kath-
crime Blackford who believes that temperament
is really revealed or determined by complexion,
that Prof. Paterson set out to test
I'm brief" DR.. Blackford has written, always
and everywhere the normal blonde has positive,
dynamic, driving, aggressive, domneering, inn
patient, active, quick hopeful, speculative,
changeable and variety-loving characteristics.
while the normal brunette has negative, static,
conservative, initiative, submissive, cautious,
painstaking, Flooding, slow, deliberate, serious,
thoughtful and specializing characteristics
DO you agree with her?
Prof. Paterson would not allow himself to
establish the truth in statistical fashion.
1T occurred to me-" he says that such posi-
tive assertions ought to be put to a quantitative
test and, in collaboration with DR.. Katherine
E. Ludgate, attempt at verification was un-
dertaken. We held that If blondes, group,
always and everywhere exhibit, or at least pos
sess, traits that positive, dynamic, driving,
etc, then blondes, individually, should possess
such traits. If this were So then a majority
at least of blondes should be rated by intelli-
gent educated judges being the possessors
of those traits. Furthermore, large majority
of blondes should be rated as being deficient in
the brunette traits"
WHAT really happened was that the ma jority
W of blondes were rated as having blonde
traits, to be sure. But so also we're the brli-
nettes! The average percentage of blondes
rated as having blonde traits was 81 the average
for the brunettes being 81. Are the brunettes
as blonde the blondes?
More than 30 per cent of both blondes and
brunettes were active. Exactly IS per cent of
both types were found to be hopeful Only 81
per cent of blondes, but only 81 per cent dess
than one-third) of the brunettes were found to
have the brunette" trait of being plodding
Prof. Paterson has summoned an impressive
array of statistical findings TO explode other
popular fallacies.
Perhaps because of conspicuous outstanding
examples, such as Washington and Lincoln, of
powerful minds contained in super-normal
bodies, the impression has become widespread
that big men are nearly always brainy, at
least that the physical stature VI a person has
something to do somehow Ns'h his mental
development.
That this impression has the dignity of great
age and widespread circulation is shown by
familiar expressions that have become a part
of our language. High brow" has come to
designate the capacity of the mind behind the
brow. Long headed" applies to the man who
thinks of the future. Big hearted" refers to
the affections, not the organ. And the very
word big" itself is used more often in connec-
ton with mans ability his fame than with
his skeleton or his muscular development.
Many theories have been advanced by scien-