New Study Finally Gives Us the O.K. to Judge Folks By Their Shoes

People say that eyes are the window to the soul, but they’re lying — ’cause it’s actually your shoes. According to an experiment done by the University of Kansas, shoes can indeed say a lot about a person’s character.

The University wrangled up volunteers to fill out a personality questionnaire and were told to provide their most commonly worn shoes. Afterwards, a group of students looked at 208 different pairs of shoes and were asked to guess age, gender and social status of each pair’s owner.

So, what do your shoes say about you? Well, there were some obvious results such as flashy shoes belonging to extroverts and expensive shoes belonging to high earners, but there were some results that were a little more interesting.

Ankles boots are worn by aggressive personalities (hmm, I love ankle boots, but am I aggressive? I wouldn’t say so. Rude and sarcastic, maybe…) Practical and functional shoes were worn by agreeable people (Uggs and Crocs might be included in this category, but they’re still ugly shoes and you should be ashamed, in my opinion), while people with calm personalities tend to wear uncomfortable looking shoes.

Psychologists also took a look at emotional stability, and discovered that folks with brand new, well-kept shoes tend to give everyone the idea that they have attachment anxiety and constantly worry about relationships. And, if you thought those crazy liberal hippies weren’t into material things, then you were right! They tend to have scruffier, less expensive shoes, which again, isn’t that surprising of a fact find.

This study leaves me with a million questions like, what do kitten heels say about a person? (They shouldn’t even exist, anyway). Or, what about thigh high or knee high boots? Sneakers and oxfords? Gladiator sandals and creepers? There are so many shoes, but what do they all mean?!

Oh University of Kansas, you’ve opened up a whole can of worms in my mind. Now, I’ll think twice every time I pick up a pair of shoes. Sigh.

[Image via Ana Fashion]