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Related Experiment Videos

Very first impressions.

Moshe Bar1, Maital Neta, Heather Linz

  • 1Martinos Center at Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA 02129, USA. bar@nmr.mgh.harvard.edu

Emotion (Washington, D.C.)
|June 14, 2006
PubMed
Summary
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First impressions of personality form within 39 milliseconds from facial appearance. Survival-related traits like threat are judged faster than intelligence, mediated by low spatial frequencies.

Area of Science:

  • Social Psychology
  • Cognitive Neuroscience
  • Visual Perception

Background:

  • Facial appearance significantly influences first impressions of personality.
  • Understanding the speed and visual properties of impression formation is crucial for social interaction.
  • Previous research often conflates personality judgments with emotional cues.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To determine the timeframe for forming consistent first impressions from faces.
  • To investigate whether survival-related traits are judged faster than other personality aspects.
  • To explore the role of visual properties, specifically spatial frequencies, in rapid impression formation.

Main Methods:

  • Participants made threat judgments on neutral-expression faces presented for very brief durations (e.g., 39 ms).

Related Experiment Videos

  • Judgments were compared for survival-related traits (threat) versus non-survival-related traits (intelligence).
  • The influence of low spatial frequencies on impression formation speed was investigated.

    • Main Results:

    • Consistent personality impressions can be formed within 39 milliseconds.
    • Threat judgments were more consistent and formed faster than intelligence judgments.
    • Evidence suggests low spatial frequencies are key mediators of rapid threat judgments.

    Conclusions:

    • Rapid first impressions are possible, relying on minimal visual information.
    • Survival-relevant trait judgments are prioritized in initial facial perception.
    • Low spatial frequencies play a critical role in the swift, subconscious assessment of facial threat.