How strong and lasting are first impressions?

 

 

 

Imagine if you and I, or your group members, are meeting for the first time! Impression research indicates that what we see in others, initially, and what others see in us tends to be remembered. It seems that most of us have a tendency to give more weight to our first impressions of a person than to our later impressions. This tendency is called the primacy effect.[1] 

 Assignment

Answer the following questions.

1. What does this primacy effect suggest to you in taking a class from a teacher, in getting acquainted with others, or in preparing for a job interview?   ( This is an opinion question that has not right or wrong content answer. )

2. What kinds of characteristics do most of us remember? The answer to this question is listed below. Just type the answer and send it via email.

 Research by Charles Osgood  indicates that people remember basically three dimensions:

1. an evaluation dimension such as good/bad,

   2. a potency dimension such as a strong/weak,

   3. an activity dimension such as active/passive.

Solomon Asch illustrated this point in presenting the following list of adjectives: Which person would you rather have for your friend? Do you see any difference?  The answer is provided below as you do not need to send any answer to this question.

Person A

Person B

Intelligent	Intelligent
Skillful	Skillful
Industrious	Industrious
Warm	Cold
Determined	Determined
Practical	Practical
Cautious	Cautious

Answer: If you chose Person A, you are like most people, who tend to see the characteristics of warm and cold as central, i.e., people give more weight to them and remember them more easily. .Another experiment by Solomon Asch  provides additional evidence for first impression research. Consider the following. What is the impression of Person A and Person B? This is reflection question and you do not need to send me any answer.

Person A

Person B

Intelligent	Envious
Industrious	Stubborn
Impulsive	Critical
Critical	Impulsive
Stubborn	Industrious
Envious	Intelligent

Solomon Asch found that Person A was seen more favorably, i.e., he found that the adjectives that were presented first tended to be remembered easier. [2]

3. What are five or six adjectives that describe you? [3]

Be sure and pay attention to those positive characteristics which you want others to remember. List them in the order that you want people to remember them, as people tend to remember the information they hear first in any given order.

4. Can you think of how being aware of first impression  is important for you? Please give an example with an explanation.

5. What did you learn about yourself ? . [3] 

Extra Credit

Read the following material and do the extra credit assignment indicated.

Don  E .Hamachek,   pages 10-11

     1. Don  E. Hamachek, Encounter with Others: Interpersonal Relationships and You, New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc.,1982, p. 108
     2. Ibid.,    ,Don  E .Hamachek,   pages 10-11
     3.  David Johnson, Reaching Out: Interpersonal Effectiveness and Self-Actualization,10th ed., Boston : Allyn and Bacon 2009,  p. 77,

Email: rbrehm@msn.com  Telephone: 206-930-4197.
Copyright © 1998  [Robert Brehm]. All rights reserved.

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