In a recent study, observers viewed full-body photographs of 123 people they had never met before. The targets were viewed either in a controlled pose with a neutral facial expression or in a naturally expressed pose. The accuracy of the judgments was gauged by comparing them to the aggregate of self-ratings and that of three informants who knew the targets well, a criterion now widely regarded as the gold standard in personality research.
Even when viewing the targets in the controlled pose, the observers could accurately judge some major personality traits, including extraversion and self-esteem. But most traits were hard to detect under these conditions. When observers saw naturally expressive behavior (such as a smiling expression or energetic stance), their judgments were accurate for nine of the 10 personality traits. The 10 traits were extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, emotional stability, openness, likability, self-esteem, loneliness, religiosity and political orientation.
“We have long known that people jump to conclusions about others on the basis of very little information,” says Gosling, “but what’s striking about these findings is how many of the impressions have a kernel of truth to them, even on the basis of something as simple a single photograph.”
Full article over at The Situationist
The thing about first impressions though, is you get the general feeling from the person too, not just their looks.
Just my thoughts, but otherwise, tis quite interesting.
I think if a person is comfortable with themselves then others can usually work them out fairly easily but i’ve always been shy so i don’t really think people ever get to see the real me which is a shame.
I’ve met people I’ve taken instant dislike to for no explained reason. Has usually turned out to be the right assumption by me
I would never have thought first impressions were this important. Great post!
Yeah, ppl make judgements all the time. I like to see things for myself and never gossip about others. Newspapers don’t sell so well coz ppl don’t believe them, yet gossip mags sell really well, i’ve never believed a headline yet.
Thats all very well and good but I mean personality research is always the trickiest – people don’t fit easily into neat little categories (damn them) plus what do the categories really tell us about individuals? (nothing is what!)
AND furthermore we see what we expect to see so when people say their first impressions are correct its because they found the information needed to support these judgements. So lets not reinforce basing judgements on first impressions no matter how ‘accurate’ they seem to be. Note the kernel of truth at the end (a seed not exactly a whole tree)
How about we stop judging people, as we don’t like to be judged, so why do we think it’s ok to judge others.
I think what Derren Brown has done is honed this skill at judging people very very fast till he’s an expert at it! We can all do it to some extent, I’m sure.
First impressions are like looking at a lake. You can see the surface and part of the way down, but can’t see all the way.
To truly find out what a person is like you have to dive in and have a good swim around. You may find the odd old supermarket trolley at the bottom, or you could find that the bottom if full of gold treasure.
And before you form an opinion of someone, get interested in them.
I know I judge people the instant I meet them – so in ‘real life’ I judge on first impressions, and online I do tend to form an initial judgement of people based on their avatars/ pictures… I find I’m normally right – we might or might not pick up on every personality trait but we decide if we’ll like someone or not…
Why judge at all?
Rarely (sometimes), depends, yes, errr probably not much, very much, ask the others, sure it’s in here somewhere, who told, kind of and try to avoid.
There, saves anyone needing to see me.
Pax amor et concordia.
x
I like to think that I’m a pretty good judge of someone on first impressions. They say it lasts and usually it does for me.
But on the other hand, if, like me, you’re nervous & shy around meeting new people, you may not be totally natural and therefore not yourself. That can give off the wrong signals on an initial meeting. So yes, sometimes getting to know someone is the only way to judge a person’s true character (if indeed it needs to be judged….)
LC x
Our senses do a load of adding up and decision making before we even bat an eyelid.
It’s not just the person who you see for the first time .. it’s also you yourself you need to judge to come to a proper conclusion .. otherwise you might end up choosing to see to the wrong person in that other one ..
I didn’t really get the full article.
The research was just fine showing that first impressions can be really good. Then the researcher said it’s an important result because then you can manipulate how others perceive you on first impression by knowing how they get into their conclusions? Is this right?
I find it ridiculous to believe that plain reasoning can predict human behavior. The mind can, but if reasoning could then a computer also could, and much faster. Maybe it’s not a coincidence Phillis left out that part.
Nevertheless, it’s really interesting that such an experiment could conclude that people can be dead right on first impressions, most of the time. Yet, why does it get so hard to actually read someone?
And this is why i dislike salesmen. Fist impression is often accurate.