INTODUTCION

Description

The word appearance refers the way something or someone looks. It is what we see on the outside. Common words used to describe appearance. Appearance is generalization about a group of people whereby we attribute a defined set of characteristics to this group. These classifications can be positive or negative, such as when various nationalities are stereotyped as friendly or unfriendly. We often store appearance in two parts. First there are the generalized descriptions and attributes. To this we may add exemplars to prove the case, such as 'the policeman next door'. We may also store them hierarchically, such as 'black people', 'Africans', 'Ugandans', 'Ugandan military', etc., with each lower order inheriting the characteristics of the higher order, with additional characteristics added. Appearance can be subconscious, where it subtly biases our decisions and actions, even in people who consciously do not want to be biased.
Example

Youths perception about appearance goes way beyond race and gender. Consider conversations you have had about people from the next town, supporters of other football teams, and so on.
References
Lippmann (1922), Allport (1954)