JustLearn. A second look at your first impression. Early impressions can guide attention without being promoted immediately into a complete account of a person. This edition uses synthetic narration.

Keep the impression provisional. Someone is quiet at a gathering, and you decide they are uninterested. Another person is lively and you assume they are easy to know. Either impression may contain something useful, but each begins with a narrow sample of behaviour in one setting.

Try wording the observation without closing the case: ‘They spoke very little this evening’ rather than ‘They have nothing to say.’ The smaller sentence leaves room for context, including circumstances you do not know. It also makes it easier to recognise later evidence instead of filtering everything through the first label.

Look for a different setting. If the relationship matters, notice how the person behaves elsewhere. A quiet group participant may contribute thoughtfully in a smaller conversation. An entertaining acquaintance may or may not show the same interest when somebody else needs attention.

You do not need to manufacture tests. Ordinary encounters provide different demands: planning something, listening to an unfamiliar view or responding to a small inconvenience. Ask what is repeated and what seems specific to the situation. Your interpretation can become more detailed without becoming either suspicious or unquestioningly generous.

Allow new information to change the label. Once you have described somebody to yourself, it can be uncomfortable to revise the account. You may overlook a kind act because it does not fit ‘selfish’, or excuse an inconsiderate one because it conflicts with ‘charming’. Keep returning to the behaviour itself.

Choose one impression you hold and identify the observations behind it. Which are repeated? Which are interpretations? What might you still need to learn before making a consequential decision about the person? First impressions are useful beginnings to attention. They become less useful when they prevent the relationship from supplying any new information.

A question to take with you. What have I observed more than once, and what did I decide after a single moment? First published by JustLearn. Read the original article at justlearn dot online.