If you evaluate a person, the first impression may be the last

The well-known saying urges not to judge a book by its cover. But people tend to do this even after they have read one or two chapters. Vivian Zayas, a psychology professor at Cornell University , and her colleagues found that people remain influenced by the appearance of another person even after prolonged interaction. The first impressions that were formed from just looking through the photos predetermined what people felt and thought about the person after the live communication that followed later.

The appearance of a person, his image, have a strong influence on what we feel for him or think about what he is. Facial features are a very powerful tool for forming relationships, even if there is additional information about a person.
')
The researchers conducted an experiment in which 55 participants viewed photographs of four women who smiled on one card and retained neutral facial expressions on the other. After examining each, the subjects had to evaluate how attractive she was. They were asked to suggest whether she was an extrovert, emotionally stable, conscientious, and open to new impressions, and could they make friends with her.

From a month to six months later, the participants of the experiment met with one of these women, not realizing that they had previously evaluated her photo. They played quizzes and other games for about 10 minutes, and then they were tasked with getting to know each other as best they could for the next 10 minutes. After each interaction, the experiment participants again evaluated the attractiveness of the woman and her personality traits. As a result, the researchers found a strict consistency between how participants evaluated a person based on a photograph and live communication.

If the subjects thought that the person in the photo was likeable and pleasant, emotionally stable, open and kind, this impression was maintained even after a full-time meeting. Participants who felt that the person in the photo was unsympathetic and emotionally unstable retained this view after they met. It is noteworthy that the participants communicated with the same person, but even after a 20-minute face-to-face interaction, they retained their cardinally different impressions.

Vivian Zayas gives several explanations for the results of the experiment. In her opinion, the formation of enduring sympathy in this case is nothing but the result of the concept of behavioral confirmation or self-fulfilling prophecy . Mention of this concept can be found in the myths of ancient Greece and India, but the term itself was popularized by American sociologist Robert C. Merton in the 20th century. A self-fulfilling prophecy is a prediction that seems to be true, but in fact it is not. It can greatly influence the behavior of people in such a way that their subsequent actions themselves lead to the fulfillment of the prophecy.

Those study participants who liked the person in the photo, as a rule, interact with him in a more friendly and active way. They smile a little more and lean forward during the conversation a little stronger. Their non-verbal signals will be “warmer”. When someone is located to the person from the very beginning, shows more active participation, he responds in the same way. Such a reaction is supported by the fact that the participant in the experiment likes such a woman more.

If we talk about why the participants retained their judgments about the personality of the woman after the meeting, here comes the halo effect - cognitive distortion, as a result of which a person is inclined to endure a general impression on the feelings and character of the interlocutor. The participants, who gave a positive assessment of the woman in the photo, continued to attribute positive qualities to them further. “When we see an attractive person with a certain authority, we automatically assume that their marriages are stronger and that children are happier. We go in the direction of the initial judgment and attribute other positive characteristics to a person who is likable to us, ”says Zayas.

In the course of a closely related study, which was conducted by Zayas and her colleagues, people stated that they would reconsider their judgment about the people in the photos if they had a chance to meet with them in person. So they would get more information, on the basis of which one could give an assessment, the participants of the experiment claimed. But the latest work for the authorship of Vivian Zayas shows us that it is not. People are really sure that they will reconcile their decision, but this does not happen: they demonstrate much greater constancy in their judgments, and there is very little evidence of revision.

Scientific work published in the journal Social Psychological & Personality Science
DOI: 10.1177 / 1948550616662123