Why do first impressions matter?
Show answer & explanation
Answer: Primacy effect in memory
Primacy effect in memory ✓ — Correct! First impressions matter due to the 'primacy effect' - information encountered first has disproportionate influence on our overall judgment. Our brains use initial information to create a schema (mental framework) about a person. Later information gets filtered through this existing schema through confirmation bias - we notice and remember things that confirm our first impression while dismissing contradictory evidence. This happens because changing existing schemas requires more cognitive effort than maintaining them.
Social rules require it — Wrong. Social etiquette doesn't cause the psychological stickiness of first impressions. The effect comes from cognitive mechanisms like primacy effect and confirmation bias, not social conventions.
We trust our instincts — Wrong. 'Trusting instincts' doesn't explain why first impressions persist even when later evidence contradicts them. The real mechanism is primacy effect plus confirmation bias, which makes us unconsciously favor information that confirms our initial judgment.
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