Don't Judge a Book By It's Cover: First Impressions

We have all been taught that a book should not be judged by its cover. In theory, this makes perfect sense. However, in reality, this is not practical and is very difficult at best.

First impressions, regardless of how minute or seemingly insignificant the encounter may be perceived as, can play a huge part in determining the actions of others. A first impression is everlasting and has the influential ability to “make or break” a situation regardless of whether or not the perceived notion is accurate. OrganizedKhaos (2009) suggested that “this cognitive tendency affects our lives in numerous ways and goes unnoticed a large majority of the time (para. 6).

First impressions are developed almost instantaneously and unconsciously. Winerman (2005) stated “people often judge each other on immediate intuitions. We make split-second judgments of strangers all the time” (p. 54). Within seconds of encountering a stranger, we have the uncanny ability to take in and decipher their posture, eye gaze, tone of voice, body position, gestures, and facial expressions. This results in our split-second judgment about what kind of person this individual is. This, in turn, becomes a first impression or “gut instinct”.

As minimal an exposure time as a tenth of a second is sufficient for people to make a specific inference from facial appearance is the claim of Willis and Todorov (2006). Once this first impression has been made, it is ingrained into our minds and is not easily overcome. Judgments are already anchored on the initial inference.

In determining the extent to which these fleeting moments of judgment impact our lives is difficult, as rarely does one openly admit to what their first impression is of someone they have just ...

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...spects of a person’s behavior, which can lead to misjudgment and erroneous perceptions.

References

Clifford, M., & Walster, E. 1973. "The Effect of Physical Attractiveness on Teacher

Expectations." Sociology of Education Vol. 46, No. 2:248-58.

OrganizedKhaos. (2009, February 24). The Halo Effect: Learned Behavior? [Web log post].

Retrieved from http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/exchange/node/3889

Willis, J., & Todorov, A. (2006). First Impressions: Making Up Your Mind After a 100-Ms

Exposure to a Face. Psychological Science (Wiley-Blackwell), 17(7), 592-598. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9280.2006.01750.x

Winerman, L. (2005, March). ‘Thin slices’ of life: Psychologists are finding that our first impressions of other can be remarkably accurate—but also fail us. Monitor on

Psychology, 36(3). Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/monitor/mar05