Psychologists call it “thin-slicing”, but the truth is that within a few seconds of meeting you, most people form an impression and decide all sorts of things about you, from whether you’re intelligent or successful to whether you’re promiscuous.
Whether you’re walking into a party or a job interview, the moment you step through the door you make an unconscious impression on other people’s brains. That first impression doesn’t have to be the final one, but it’s where things start.
Drake Baer has rounded up for Business Insider, drawing on the various studies on the subject, some of the impressions people form about us.
1. Whether you’re trustworthy
People decide how trustworthy you are in a tenth of a second. Princeton University researchers reached this conclusion after asking a group of university students to rate actors’ faces for attractiveness, competence, likeability, aggressiveness and trustworthiness in just a few seconds.
Members of another group took as long as they needed. While the other traits differed depending on how long people looked, trustworthiness was basically the same.
2. Whether you’re high status
A Dutch study found that people wearing Lacoste and Tommy Hilfiger clothing specifically were seen as higher status than people who didn’t wear those brands.
According to the study’s authors, perceptions didn’t differ on any of the other dimensions that might affect how social interactions turn out: there were no differences in perceived attractiveness, kindness or trustworthiness.
3. Whether you’re gay or straight
People can read a man’s sexual orientation in a twentieth of a second, the minimum amount of time it takes to consciously recognise a face.
The rapid and accurate perception of male sexual orientation may be one more sign of a fast, efficient cognitive mechanism for perceiving other people’s characteristics, say the study’s authors, Nicholas O. Rule and Nalini Ambady.
4. Whether you’re intelligent
A 2007 study led by Professor Nora A. Murphy of Loyola University found that looking the person you’re talking to in the eye comes across very well.
Looking at each other while talking was a key behaviour, according to the study: it correlated significantly with IQ and contributed to higher perceived-intelligence scores.
Wearing thick glasses and speaking expressively also help you seem more intelligent.
5. Whether you’re promiscuous
A British study found that women with visible tattoos were perceived as less attractive, and as heavier drinkers and more promiscuous, than women without any tattoos.
In Britain at least, the authors write, tattoos on women are associated with “ladette” culture, the female equivalent of “lad” culture, which usually involves a fondness for drinking, sport and fast cars.
6. Whether you’re dominant
Being bald isn’t just attractive to some people; it’s powerful too.
A University of Pennsylvania study found that men with shaved heads were rated as more dominant than similar men with full heads of hair, and that men whose hair had been digitally removed were perceived as more dominant, taller and stronger than they really were.
7. Whether you’re successful
In a British-Turkish study, participants looked for just five seconds at photos of men wearing off-the-peg suits and of men wearing made-to-measure suits. The men in made-to-measure suits were rated as more successful.
The study’s tests show that men who wear well-cut, made-to-measure suits improve the image they project to others. And as we know, in business at least, image says a lot.
8. Whether you’ll get promoted
In a 2011 study carried out in Canada, university students were shown photos of male models dressed in business suits and in casual clothes. They were then asked what kind of job each man would have.
The results were clear-cut: not only did they think the men in suits earned more money, they also thought they would be promoted faster.
Further reading
Featured image: Photographer for Rhode Island School of Design Museum of Art, CC0 1.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
