How+We+Form+Impressions+of+Others

How we form impressions of others: Everyone makes first impressions of others upon #|meeting them. We look at other persons physical appearance and #|decide whether or not we like person. We hold on to this #|information throughout the relationship. Many #|studies say that we form impressions in just a few seconds. When we tend to be nice about it and say nice things to them, third parties tell us information about someone whom we just met. The impression formation theory states that we form impressions through physical qualities and behaviors, information others tell us, and information people tell us about themselves. First impressions are hard to erase, especially when they are tattooed on.

We Emphasize What Comes First and Last There is a lot of evidence that we pay more attention to our first impressions than any of our other impressions. The primary effect is the of giving our attention to the first pieces of information that we see about another individual. We also give a of attention to our most recent impressions and experiences. The recency effect is the tendency to put a lot of attention on the last thing that we observed.

How we describe others: Even when we do not know a person very well, we make assumptions about their personalities. Many of us have developed what is called the implicit #|personalitytheory. The implicit personality theory is a pattern of qualities that we group with certain #|people. We use the implicit personality theory in order to better understand people and to organize the array of information we have about people's personalities. We develop constructs to help us classify people. We put people in two different categories: people we do not like, and people we do like. When we like someone, the halo effect is often created. The halo effect is when we attribute positive qualities to a person without knowing for sure if those qualities really exist in the person. When we dislike a person, the horn effect is often created. The horn effect is when we attribute negative qualities to a person without knowing if those qualities really exist in the person.