The unfair stereotypes Brits make based on 1st names

NEW insights reveal the judgements people make about you based on your 1st name and whether they are true. Commissioned by My Nametags, a manufacturer of durable sticker and iron on name labels, a survey of 2,000 adults, focussed on 6 of the most common names in the UK:- David, James, Christopher, Sarah, Laura and Gemma, with the aim of finding out once and for all what stereotypes exist around the names, whether they ring true and if it is really possible to:- 'act like a Sarah.' Women with the name Sarah are often considered in a good light, as research revealed that Sarahs are usually thought to be:- compassionate, sociable, kind, conscientious and likable. It's bad news for those named David, with most Brits admitting to expecting people with this 1st name to be:- assertive, angry and closed minded, even before meeting them. The research revealed that men with the name Christopher are considered to be the most intellectual of all, found to be:- quiet, high achieving, reliable and organised. However, it's not all a bed of roses for those named Christopher as they are also assumed to be unsociable and uninventive. Lauras also don't fare well, according to the stereotypes. The research revealed that women named Laura are thought to be:- unlikeable, uncharismatic and bad team players. However, what they lack in social skills they make up for in energy and creativity, or so we think.

Chartered Clinical Psychologist and Scientist, Linda Blair, explains why these stereotypes exist:- "One of the ways we deal with information overload, a real problem in today's world, is to create mental 'shortcuts' and relying on name stereotypes is 1 of them. However, these stereotypes are usually based on only a few high profile individuals at a particular point in time and, even less realistically, often on fictional characters in books and films. As a result, they rarely hold up in everyday encounters. Add this to the fact that each of us displays different, often contradictory qualities, depending on the situation, and you'll find those stereotypes bear little relation to the people you meet."

To test this theory, My Nametags teamed up with Linda Blair to conduct a series of psychological assessments devised to reveal an individual's most dominant personality traits, on a test group of people with these 6 common names, to determine whether they really did live up to the stereotypes. Using 'The Big 5' personality types, which are the 5 broad categories used by psychologists to define human personalities, the blind trial asked each of the subjects to describe themselves from their own point of view, as well as from their friends, family and colleagues' point of view, to give a holistic perspective of their character. The results showed that in many instances, the stereotypes proved to be entirely wrong. Surprisingly, given how strong the stereotypes are, only around 30% of people tested displayed the characteristics that we expected them to have. For example, research suggested that individuals called Sarah and James were likely to be conscientious, yet, when tested, it was only people named Gemma who used this word to describe themselves. Similarly, the survey suggested those with the names Gemma and James are considered to be the moodiest. However, the experiment found that just a ⅓ of people named Gemma and James would identify themselves as moody, with an equal amount of Lauras and Christophers admitting to being grumpy people.

Linda Blair comments on the findings:- "The tests revealed that most people have a range of conflicting personality traits, offering a potential explanation as to why so few people lived up to their stereotypes. For instance, during interviews, 1 Sarah described herself and both organised and disorganised, depending on the situation. This makes it incredibly difficult to categorise individuals into a broad stereotype, especially based on their 1st name alone. These contrasting qualities are likely to present themselves to different people in different situations, so there is no single list of qualities that could be used to describe any 1 of these accurately. For this reason, I would suggest that it isn't possible for someone to 'act like a James' and we shouldn't be tempted to make judgements about people based purely on their name because we will almost certainly be wrong."

Commenting on the study, Lars B. Andersen, Managing Director at My Nametags, said:- "We know that a person's name can really paint a picture of the type of person they are, which is why naming a child can be such a difficult task. It can be easy to be put off a name because we dislike some who shares it, or it has negative associations. But our research shows deep rooted stereotypes are almost completely unfounded. After 14 years of printing personalised name labels we have seen that no matter how many share the same name, no 2 are the same."

Help and Hope in Liverpool on World Homeless Day

THOUSANDS of people in Liverpool are prevented from becoming homeless each year. And the vast majority of people helped out of crisis never spend 1 night sleeping rough on the streets. These are the big messages from Liverpool City Council as it shows support for World Homeless Day (10/10/18). Each year the Council invests more than ₤11m into services to prevent families and individuals in the City from becoming homeless, in addition from a range of support from the voluntary and community sector and other health/NHS partners. This includes everything from supporting people to enable them to stay in their own home through advice, support, advocacy and practical assistance such as hardship grants and other financial support. The Council also funds roughly 750 temporary accommodation bed spaces for single people and families. At the same time, the Council provides a range of support for the relatively small number of rough sleepers in the City to encourage them to come inside and get the help they need. Rough sleepers have access to support, a safe space to stay and food 24/7 through Liverpool's Always Room Inside offer.

The main focus of these services is to prevent homelessness occurring, wherever possible. In a typical year, the City Council's Housing Options Service works with over 5,000 households who are facing housing difficulties. Demand for these services are growing with issues such as mental health issues, domestic abuse, debt and financial issues being some of the key issues facing our communities. In 1 recent example the Council's Housing Options Service were contacted by a concerned mother whose family was facing eviction in less than a week's time due to rent arrears. The woman came into the drop-in service based at St John's Market and spoke to an Officer. Discussions began with the landlord and the Council used Discretionary Housing Payments to pay a proportion of the rent and prevent the family from being evicted. All the parties agreed on a repayment schedule which was further supported by the Housing Options Prevention Fund. As a result, the family avoided eviction and remain in their home today.

Homelessness is a complex issue however, and despite the best efforts of services, it cannot always be prevented. That is why services funded by the City Council include a purpose built family homeless centre, 3 refuges for women fleeing domestic abuse and an accommodation service for teenage parents. In addition, to over 700 temporary accommodation beds for single people, and specialist addiction support to help people start the journey to recovery and a direct access Hostel. Liverpool City Council's Deputy Mayor and Cabinet Member for Housing, Cllr Lynnie Hinnigan, said:- "We want to use the platform of World Homeless Day to raise awareness about the work going on in the City to prevent people from becoming homeless.  For many people the visible face of homelessness in our City is the rough sleepers we see on the streets of the City Centre. Whilst the Council and its partners are working hard to address the problem of rough sleeping, they are only approximately 1%% of the number of people we help with housing issues each year. We provide people with access to:- food, health services, dental services, training and employment support and even access to the City's Sports Centres, museums and art galleries. The Council works with a broad range of partner agencies to provide support for homeless people and those facing homelessness every day of the year."

World Homeless Day emphasises the hands on help given to people in crisis at local level and to illustrate 1 area where people receive support the Council has produced a special video about how it works with homelessness charity The Whitechapel Centre to support rough sleepers. You can view the video online now.  Cllr Hinnigan added:- "We work with people at every stage of the journey and our Always Room Inside campaign means that no-one in Liverpool needs to sleep rough on the streets of the City Our message for World Homeless Day is; don't suffer in silence. There is always hope and help and if you need help or know someone who needs our help, get in touch with the relevant services and we will do everything we can to help."

If you are at risk of homelessness or know someone who is, you can contact the Council's Housing Options Service on:- 0151 233 3800. If you have concerns about someone sleeping rough on the streets of Liverpool, you can call the Always Room Inside helpline on:- 0300 123 2041.