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The psychology of a haircut in the COVID-19 pandemic




Listening to a German radio program, Science Unscripted, the hosts were discussing the psychology of a haircut in the COVID-19 pandemic. In Germany, hair salons re-opened on 1 March 2021. The radio program was timely – I was having a bad hair day.

 

The hosts interviewed citizens in Bonn and spoke with Dr. Lisa Schmalzreid of the Martin Luther University in Germany. If the coronavirus crisis has shown us anything, the hosts announced, it's that human beings apparently have an irrepressible need to get their hair cut and styled. This is despite the fact that lockdowns have effectively canceled all social events. So, is it really about the hair?

 

Comments from people interviewed said that a haircut restores their sense of self and their dignity. They said a haircut does something positive for the psyche, how they perceive themselves when they look in the mirror, and how they think other people perceive them. 

 

People generally feel better after a hair cut, but when it is not available, the urge to get a haircut seems stronger.

 

Dr. Schmalzreid thinks one aspect of the psychology of a haircut in the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown might be related to the time people are spending on videoconference calls for work and to connect with others – people are now seeing themselves on the call – we see ourselves the whole time. In usual work meetings in the office, we are looking at others and not ourselves. But in Zoom calls, there we are!  

 

Another aspect might be that people are watching a lot more movies and programs, many of which have ‘beautiful’ people. So, people are seeing images of people that may look more coiffed, with neater haircuts than the people we see in our normal lives during lockdown, or for those in isolation who only see themselves.

 

It may be just that getting a haircut restores a sense of respect and dignity in ourselves. Others like the conservation with people in the salon, as a way of connecting, while others like the rest and relaxation time, away from work and home life.

 

So, a haircut is more than a haircut.
















MARTINA NICOLLS

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MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author  of: The Paris Residences of James Joyce  (2020), Similar But Different in the Animal Kingdom (2017), The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).

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