Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Impression formation theories
Interpersonal communication and body language
Interpersonal communication and body language
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Impression formation theories
Making a good first impression is of the utmost importance, for research studies indicate that the impression made in the first few seconds of an initial encounter has a long-lasting effect and very rarely changes over time. Positive first impressions can be made by being well-dressed and groomed, by being confident and self-assured, and by smiling and making eye contact when meeting someone for the first time.
In order to provide a thorough and comprehensive analysis of this issue, first impression dynamics will be examined in a variety of contexts such as dating, social events, academic settings, and job interviews, and the impact of first impressions on business activities ranging from sales and the design of company websites to hospitality industry environments such as restaurants and hotels will be discussed and analyzed.
The Influence of First Impressions
Lenny Laskowski (1998,1), president of LJL Seminars, notes that people always form an initial impression the first time they come in contact with someone, regardless of whether it is in person or whether it is over the telephone. Every other contact after that first time either supports or conflicts with that first impression. If a good first impression is created, the relationship grows from there, but if a bad first impression is created, “the relationship with that person can be an uphill battle.”
Taylor, Pepau, & Sears (2000) explain that first impressions are extremely important because they are the initial idea that an individual forms about another individual and determine whether they decide to pursue any type of relationship. People tend to form impressions of each other relatively quickly and use minimal information such as the gender of the o...
... middle of paper ...
...sion/. 4 March 2011.
Nauert, Rick. (2009). “First Impressions Are Important For Trusting Relationship.” PsychCentral. Online. Available: http://psychcentral.com/news /2009/01/08/first-impressions-are-important-for-trusting-relationship/3600.html. 4 March 2011.
Taylor, S. E., Peplau, L., & Sears, D. O. (2000). “Person Perception: Forming Impressions of Others.” In N. Roberts, B. Webber, & J. Cohen (Eds.), Social Psychology (pp. 62-97). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Thejendra, B.S. (2008). “The Folly Of First Impressions.” Changing Minds.
Online. Available: http://changingminds.org/articles/articles08/the_folly_of_first_ impressions.htm. 3 March 2011.
Wilson, Susie. (2009). “The Importance of First Impressions.” Career Communique. Online. Available: http://career-coach.com.au/xpress/feb2709. Htm. 5 March 2011.
When meeting someone for the first time you are trying to do two things and so is the person you are meeting. The first thing each of you are doing is trying to size up and understand what type of person the other is. The second thing is that you both are trying to get the other person to see you in a certain way by the words said and unsaid and the actions done and not done. You both are acting in one way or another or putting on a performance so that the person you are meeting gets to see you as you are (gets to see you act as you do everyday) or as you want them to see you (act the in a way that makes them believe that this is the way you act in your day-to-day life).
Typically, 2 people will form an opinion of others within the first 3 seconds of meeting one another. The way these opinions are formed so quickly is, generally speaking, solely because of physical appearance. All too often, in our society today, people are criticized for what material possessions they have and how much money said people have to spend on things that they do not need, but instead just want. It does not matter where you go; this can be observed almost anywhere. Sometimes, when people notice that someone has cheaper clothes or less objects of purely material value, the people who have more frown upon those who have less. Ev...
Fifteen seconds go by and you have already made a first impression of a person. The first impressions you get of a person might not always be who they turn out to be. It is about giving people a chance as shown in Pride and Prejudice. Pride and Prejudice is a book first titled First Impressions. Pride and Prejudice is a book where the characters make the plot and the novel itself. It is based upon the first impressions one character makes of another and the story revolves around this. First Impressions embody the themes in the novel. Mr. Darcy is one major character in which people make many first impressions of him and try to form him into the character they think he is. One person that makes such an impression of him is Elizabeth Bennet. Elizabeth’s judgments are correct most of the time with some characters but when it comes to Mr. Darcy it soon shows that her impressions of him are incorrect. Elizabeth also lets those words Mr. Wickham says of Darcy steer her impressions in that incorrect way. When Elizabeth finds out that what others tell her is not true her impressions are contradicted. The first impressions of Darcy and Elizabeth affect the plot and structure of Pride and Prejudice by their influences on other characters.
Differences in men and women’s communication can create some difficulty when it comes to first impressions, finding a potential partner, and maintaining relationships. Research shows that men tend to be more dominate when it comes to first impressions (Deyo, Walt, & Davis, 2011) and are more likely to talk about their interests, such as sports, rather than self-disclose personal information (Bond, 2009). Women, on the other hand, tend to discuss more personal topics a (Bond, 2009) and assess the man’s mannerisms and characteristics for compatibility (Deyo, Walt, & Davis, 2011).
For example, working in a surgical ward, a nurse was discussing with other colleagues about a certain patient who was in the holding bay, talking negatively about her lifestyle choices, when approaching the patient for the first time when arriving into the suite, she refused treatment from any of the nurse staff on the shift as she was upset at the things the nurse had said. First impressions influence people’s judgments of others and their willingness to engage in any further communication (Boc and Franklin, 2013).... ... middle of paper ... ...
Wherever we go, we look around and often judge people by their personal traits, the way they talk, or maybe even how they dress. What this is called is impression formation. It is the process of how we gather information to have an overall impression of someone’s character. This is done by using their physical traits and the way they behave as our available information to make our judgement. In 1946, Soloman Asch published his own study of impression formation. He was mostly interested in how humans formed their impressions of other human beings. Throughout many of his experiments he demonstrated that when forming an impression it had four key elements. The elements were, organized process, relations of harmony and contradiction, central qualities are discovered, and that the characteristics are perceived differently. At least now we probably know why they say that first impressions matter! In my day to day life, I use impression formation by the way someone looks or their first conversation or interaction with me. With those two
First impressions are the most significant factor governing the likelihood of further communication between the parties in the future. Meeting and exceeding first impression expectations create a baseline standard for how future meetings or correspondences proceed. Failing to meet or exceed those expectations decrease the probability of further communication.
The first impression you have when meeting someone is their appearance, which makes it easy to judge people based on how they
With regards to human behavior, studies show that social perceptions are formed as a mixture of experience and expectations of how a individuals defining physical or overriding characteristics will impact how we imagine that person to be for instance through their ethnicity, nationality, religion, class or if they are living with a disability. These assumptions are often deep-rooted and formed in childhood.
Psychology, (2014). Solomon Asch: Forming Impressions of Personality. [online] Available at: http://www.all-about-psychology.com/solomon-asch.html [Accessed 5 May. 2014].
always take a first impression about people, and all the times criticize them depending of
It has occurred once or severally that people from different joints use physical impressions to make overall judgments about a particular object, subject or a person. However, it is paramount noting that the outward appearance could be misleading and may not necessarily represent what is concealed in the particular object or subject in question. This kind of misjudgment gives rise to the concept of the ‘Halo Effect.’ The ‘halo effect’ is expressed as the aspect of different individuals using universal assessments while trying to arrive at a final judgment regarding a particular set of qualities (Yeffeth, & Thomason, 2006). For instance, people may attribute good qualities such as kind and outgoing to people who are
The novel Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen was originally titled First Impressions. This is significant because it reflects the values and attitudes of 19th century England, and portrays the main themes of the novel. It is set in England during the 1800’s and Austen focuses on a society whose opinions are based on first impressions.
The people who , by chance, are the ones you see and interact with the most often are the most likely to become your friends and lovers (Aronson, Akert, Wilson, 2013). People find others attractive by the closeness of those around you and by the familiarity aspects of others around you. Familiarity is the aspect that makes propinquity work best, this is called the mere exposure effect. We all are inclined to have positive outlooks towards factors that are familiar to us. “The more often we see certain people, and the more familiar they become ,the more friendship blooms” (Aronson, Akert, Wilson, 2013). It is in our nature to form relationships with people who have close or familiar attitudes, beliefs, and other factors throughout social contexts likewise to our own. Relationship forming can be as simple as developing some of our relationships, due to the fact that we happen to be around certain people at a certain place and
Finally, as you can see, first impressions do have a great affect on people who meet you. They are the base of all relationships. First impressions are very important socially, educationally, and employment wise. Impressions on people usually last forever. Although people have second impressions, the first ones are very important.