Think about the last time you looked in the mirror and sighed at the sight of your hair. Maybe it was frizzing, flattening, greying, thinning or simply refusing to do what you wanted. For many people, hair comes with a running commentary – a private, near-constant negotiation that we rarely stop to notice, let alone question.

My new research suggests this relationship matters far more than we think.

Hair has long been linked to identity, confidence, body image and quality of life. Research has shown that hair loss can affect psychological wellbeing in both men and women, while changes in hair texture, colour or style can influence how people see themselves and how they believe others see them.

Yet despite decades of research into appearance and body image, psychology has paid surprisingly little attention to one simple question: what does it actually mean to have a positive relationship with your hair?

To answer that question, I interviewed men and women about their experiences of living with their hair, before developing a new psychological model of what a positive relationship with hair looks like. What emerged wasn’t a picture of people with “perfect” hair or even people who loved their hair every day. Instead, they related to it........

© The Conversation