Many people think that they have a “radar” where they can identify groups of people just by looking at them, talking to them or observing specific characteristics. Mormons are no different – if you talk to any Mormon, chances are good that they think they can identify other Mormons.
My (anecdotal) experience with Mormon Radar
I’ve had a couple of experiences with Mormon radar in my life that I can remember, including 3 times in a week on our recent trip to Peru
- When I auditioned to be on Wheel of Fortune, the first stop was a hotel in Louisville with about 100 people. I saw a young couple that looked like they might be Mormon (spoiler alert: they were). I tried to figure out how I could ask them if they were Mormon without it sounding weird :-). Finally I decided to mention that my church had a temple here in Louisville that I had been to. After I said that they were like “Oh are you Mormon?”.
- In Peru, we were on the train to Machu Picchu and talking with another family that seemed like they might be Mormon. The dad mentioned that his daughter that was with him had served an 18 month mission for their church in Lima. Boom – Mormon
- On our way up to the Sun Gate at Machu Picchu, we ran into another Mormon family. This one was almost cheating though since they were all wearing BYU shirts :-D. They ended up taking this picture of us
- When Carolyn and I were at the salt ponds of Maras (SEE ALSO: What to do with 7 days in the Sacred Valley of Peru BESIDES Machu Picchu), I saw a guy taking a video of the salt ponds that I thought could be Mormon. I talked to him and after he mentioned he was from Idaho and had 6 kids, my suspicions were confirmed 🙂
Scientific evidence for “Mormon Radar”
Okay – calling it a scientific “fact” may be stretching things and certainly my anecdotal experience in Peru and elsewhere is no sort of proof at all.
BUT, there has been a study that gives some scientific evidence of Mormon Radar. Titled On the Perception of Religious Group Membership from Faces, researchers from the University of Toronto and Tufts University did a stud to determine whether such a thing as Mormon radar existed.
The whole study is worth a read, but here are some highlights
- Mormons and non-Mormons who passively observed the faces of both ingroup and outgroup members showed significantly better recognition memory for individuals belonging to their ingroup than they did for individuals belonging to their outgroup, similar to ingroup memory advantage effects commonly found for age, race and gender
- Images of Mormon and non-Mormon men and women were obtained from online personal advertisements posted in various major cities across the United States. Search criteria were restricted to individuals 18–30 years of age who specifically indicated either active membership in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or membership in another non-Mormon religious organization
- Special attention was paid to variation in the faces according to the Mormon Church’s appearance codes so that no obvious markers of Mormon or non-Mormon identity were present. All of the targets were Caucasian
The study concludes that Mormons and non-Mormons subtly differ in their facial appearance and perceivers are able to perceive these differences in a way that allows for accurate categorization. The two groups are distinguished by differences in apparent health, which appears to be expressed in facial cues signaling skin quality
Any experiences with the Mormon radar? Do you think it exists, or is it just a bunch of bunk? Leave your thoughts in the comments
(NOTE: While I have a pretty liberal comment moderation policy, please keep your comments on this post on-topic to “radar”. If you have
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Disagree. My kid wore a BYU t shirt to school and some kid asked what ward he was in. We’re not mormon, not even close. He just liked the shirt.
Disagree with which part? I agree that wearing a byu shirt does not automatically mean you’re a Mormon but I certainly think it’s a pretty good indicator
Um.. I think it’s bunk. And I live in Utah.
Did you read the study?
I did. I think “gaydar” is more likely plausible in the discussion of radars. I also disagree with the somewhat self-serving idea that Mormons are overall healthier based on diet and so forth. Fails to mention stress induced factors which could be prevalent in a religion/groupthink type person.
I believe there’s such a thing. Have you ever heard of genetic isolation? I’ve been saying this for years – Mormons have been intermarrying within their group for enough generations now that they’ve developed “a look”.
Could have something to do with the high concentration of people in Utah who are descended from Scandinavian/British Isles/Icelandic stock. If you’re one of those and you smile a lot and have no visible tattoos or body piercings you probably show up on the radar. I’m a lifelong Mormon of the half-Mexican variety and despite no tattoos, I am never asked if I am Mormon. Until I mention that I have five kids.
Heh – that was my first thought too – “Just look for the clean cut Caucasians!” If you read the study though, you’ll see that all the images (Mormon and non-Mormon people) were Caucasian and had no visible tattoos / body piercings
“Could have something to do with the high concentration of people in Utah who are descended from Scandinavian/British Isles/Icelandic stock. If you’re one of those and you smile a lot and have no visible tattoos or body piercings you probably show up on the radar.”
Given that I’m this ^^^ AND have four kids, I’m surprised I’ve never been taken for a Mormon 😀 Sounds like I’d fit right in!
Well you know we’re always looking for more 🙂
Yes, there are subtle cues that can lead to a radar-like way of signalling or detecting. Some are the microexpressions and behavioral traits, but also accents (but these of course don’t universally apply, since someone could pick up an intermountian West/southern Utah accent and not also be Mormon.)
Also look at things that are considered different by mainstream culture. Take that photo above, for example. Among which other groups is it normal to wear a t-shirt under a t-shirt? Also, even if the the second t-shirt isn’t visible, there is the garment line that sometimes can be seen, but can also be checked by a hand on the shoulder (in more casual settings) or a hand on the knee (maybe on a date.)
Someone I volunteered with had quite a few tells: no coffee/tea, no alcohol, and she was constantly pushing some kind of essential oils at events for this professional group. Certainly not all Mormons are that into multi-level marketing, but Utah is the home to a bunch of MLM companies: http://kutv.com/news/local/follow-the-profit-how-mormon-culture-made-utah-a-hotbed-for-multi-level-marketers
Thankfully the MLM culture is more prevalent in Utah and the Mountain West than here in Ohio where I live but I totally know what you mean
Also – definitely when I saw that couple in Louisville at my Wheel of Fortune tryout a couple of the tells were young married couple with kids, modest dress (knee length shorts), etc.
uhhh … sounds eerily familiar to when Nazi Germany would decide you were a Jew by the shape of your nose .. I can’t honestly tell if this “study” was satire or not
Probably because you clearly don’t understand the study at all…
I had the same reaction…. at first, I thought, this post has to be a joke, or if not, then deeply offensive and outrageous…. (living in Charlottesville, where we’ve had some serious racist ill winds of late — where our esteemed new uva football coach happens to be Mormon, I’d think he too would be horrified at even the suggestion)
Oh sure, I walk down the street, I see certain pairs of lilly white young men with solid white shirts and dark pants and ties, and yup, they’uns in Mormons….. and I walk on by.
I thought Mormons were beyond this…. Do you’all really believe that there are racial profiling markers for Mormons? Oh wait, the distinction apparently is “becuz we have certain common behavioral patterns….” (they we’re not being racist…)
Really depressing post — if nothing else, for lack of self-awareness at how such a post will come across.
I’m sorry to have depressed you this early on a Monday morning… 🙂
Do I believe that Mormons possess “racial profiling markers”? – no. Do I believe that it is possible for Mormons (or perhaps anyone) to identify other Mormons, through a combination of appearance, behavior and other indicators? I don’t know. As I shared in the post, I have anecdotal evidence that this is possible, though I concede that this is nowhere near scientifically rigorous.
I’m not sure if you read the study or not – the tl;dr was essentially that there is a belief that Mormons are healthier than the average population (attributed to the no drugs / alcohol / tobacco), this belief is widespread enough among Mormons and non-Mormons, and facial features are enough to denote “healthiness”
Ahhh the essential oil give away! Now I get it. I am a huge doTerra essential oil user and lover but do not do the whole “wanna join my team?” thing. I am always commenting at how dang nice the entire doTerra staff is, how loving they are and how they always believe someone when claiming a lost or broken package. The other day a friend advised me ” you know, they are Mormon”. Ohhhhhh, so that explains it all. Great to know, changes nothing, but they are all very lovely and sweet. Thanks for the insider info. Carry On.
Joanne – here is an interesting article on the topic that talks about some reasons why Mormons are so involved in MLM companies http://religionnews.com/2017/06/20/10-reasons-mormons-dominate-multi-level-marketing-companies/
I totally love this, especially as an anthropologist.
And as for the naysayers: you won’t know there’s a Mormon Radar unless you’re Mormon. The study shows that there is a in-group recognition, so unless you are in-group, you will not be able to correctly identify. However, I think everyone has experienced this to a degree: Americans are easy to spot overseas, and most of us can correctly identify strangers from our own state or city when we are traveling.
As for the Mormon-specific aspect, I do think it has to do mostly with the effects of culture and religion on appearance, movement and speech. I think it has less to do with the “clean-cut caucasians” or “double t-shirt” arguments. After living many years in Hawaii, where caucasian Mormons are a congregational minority, I can attest that it is something different in their appearance than a Northern European ancestry “look”. And as for the t-shirt and long short argument, even swimsuit-clad tourist Mormons on the beach are easy to spot (although it is noticeable that the Mormon women usually wear more modest bikinis or suits and have less or no tattoos).
Aja – thanks for the comments coming from an anthropologist. I know what you mean about “in-group” recognition (though I’m sure you know more). I don’t know if you read the study at all, but they mentioned that there were increases in recognition both from in-group and out of group participants.
I have finding this discussion fascinating. As a Mormon I can always pick out other Mormons, ALWAYS! but I don’t feel comfortable about it for many of the reasons stated above. I would rather live in a world of differences and diversity but that often doesn’t happen in the Mormon world which is one of my challenges with the religion.
While I agree that there likely is such a thing as Mormon radar, I think attributing it to a healthier lifestyle is a stretch and may be somewhat self serving. I would suggest that Denise is more likely correct, that genetic isolation is a more likely explanation for whatever the subtle clues are that allow Mormons to identify other Mormons. Otherwise, there are many other groups and just individuals who forsake drinking, smoking, and drugs and they do not confuse the radar. I would suggest that if this was to be studied further, that newly converted Mormons who also have previously pursued the healthy lifestyle could be studied. I would guess that the radar would not pick up on them, but I, obviously, could be wrong.
Yup I agree that those are all reasonable hypotheses
So does Glenn Beck fit the profile or not?
Locally, spotting two young males wearing dark slacks, a short sleeve white shirt, tie and a name tag, does hint LDS missionaries.
I think that if I saw Glenn Beck, I would think he’s a Mormon 🙂