Dr.
Kleck conducted a social experiment in the United States during the
1970s. The study explored how deeply conditioning and self-perception
can influence the way we experience the world and interpret the
behaviour of others.

In the
experiment, volunteers were invited to participate in what they believed
was a study about visible facial scars and social reactions. Using
professional makeup, the researchers created realistic-looking scars on
the participants’ faces, like the techniques used in film productions.
The volunteers were then asked to go out into public places and observe
how people reacted to them. Their task was to pay attention to the way
others looked at them, behaved around them, or avoided them, and record
their experiences and feelings.As
the participants walked around, many reported feeling that people were
uncomfortable around them. They noticed others staring, keeping their
distance, or seeming hesitant to approach them. Naturally, this created
feelings of rejection and discomfort, because visible facial differences
are often associated with social stigma or negative assumptions.However,
the most interesting part of the experiment came afterwards. Before the
participants left the laboratory, the researchers secretly removed the
artificial scar without telling them. The volunteers still believed the
scar remained on their faces when they returned to the public setting
for a second time.Even though
the scar had actually been removed, the participants continued to feel
judged and rejected. They still interpreted people’s reactions as
negative and believed others were responding to them in the same way as
before. This suggested that once the participants had been conditioned
to think of themselves as marked or socially excluded, that internal
belief continued to shape their perceptions, even when the physical
cause no longer existed.The
experiment illustrates how powerful conditioning can be, particularly
when it affects self-image. When people strongly believe something
negative about themselves, they may unconsciously interpret ordinary
social interactions through that lens. In many cases, the emotional
expectation of rejection becomes more influential than reality itself.