When They Had Already Dismissed Her, She Did Something Magical…
You have probably heard on more than one occasion how important it is to make a good first impression. That initial impact that we make on others will determine the image they have of us, and their beliefs about who we are. However, the first impression can lead us astray.
Psychologists at the University of Glasgow (Scotland) and at Princeton University (USA) has shown that a simple “hello” is enough to draw conclusions about the personality type of the person.
How many times have you had a first impression that later did not line up with reality? We can never fully trust a first impression because we are basing this on small elements to create an image of the person before us. But let us not forget that we do not know them and they might even surprise us.
The first impression and prejudices
With a first impression we form a positive or negative opinion of the person before us. Their way of walking, of speaking, the gestures they make, all of this can give us clues as to what their personality might be like. This allows us to adopt different positions, from acceptance to rejection, to indifference.
But these first thoughts about someone also has a lot to do with our prejudices. These are what can cause us the most problems, as we later tend to confirm precisely that first image that we have formed.
This situation tends to pop up when we interact with someone we do not know, but whom we have heard about. Even if we refuse to accept it, we have already formed an image in our heads about that person based on other people’s opinions. In this case, it is very important not to get carried away by them and to try to have an opinion of your own.
According to Alexander Todorov, it takes us 40 milliseconds to form an opinion of a stranger. As we can see, the major problem with first impressions and prejudices is the quick, anticipatory thought that we form about someone we do not know. If this is the problem, why don’t we solve it? Why don’t we have more patience before considering an individual the wrong way? Because we are conditioned.
Our first impression is always going to be very strongly connected to our prejudices, be this because we have heard about the person before us from other people or because we have prejudices in our mind that blind us in that first moment. Some examples can be “all blondes are dumb” or “all men with feminine gestures are homosexual.”
Our first impression is formed so quickly that in a timespan shorter than a breath, “we obtain” a lot of information about the other individual. What if we gave ourselves more time to form our opinion? Patience is, after all, a virtue.
The error of first impressions
It seems that nobody can be free of the tendency to form first impressions. But this mechanism, which is automatically set into motion, is the cause of many of the mistakes that we make when it comes to judging someone.
When we are quick to judge, it is possibly because we have never found ourselves in a really unfair situation due to a false first impression. This is why we offer you the possibility to watch a video that clearly shows the serious mistake that we commit by judging a person too far ahead of time.
In the video, we see Corinne Sutter, an artist who showed up at a talent show. We can watch how she paints a canvas, as we discover the judges’ displeased faces. It would seem that what is taking shape is not to their liking, which is why, one by one, they start pushing the red button so that she finally stops her work.
It is true that the drawing is strange at first, but if you are patient, it will pique your curiosity to know how she really ends her work. The members of the jury did not give her that time, they did not wait… but what they did not know was that Corinne would drop their jaws.
This video is a clear reflection of how a first impression is not always the right one and how the reality of a situation can be like a smack in the face. The public gave Corinne’s work a standing ovation, but what we do not know is if her tears were those of joy or powerlessness.
Have you ever been the victim of an unfair first impression? How many times have you judged someone and then realized that you were absolutely wrong about them? Wait for others to show you who they really are; do not rush ahead and form a false image of their personality.