Should you trust your first impression? - Peter Mende-Siedlecki

You can't help it; sometimes, you just get a bad feeling about someone that's hard to shake. So, what's happening in your brain when you make that critical (and often lasting) first judgment? Peter Mende-Siedlecki shares the social psychology of first impressions -- and why they may indicate that, deep down, people are basically good.

Lesson by Peter Mende-Siedlecki, animation by TOGETHER.

[sinfuleldian]

In my community, it's more like the opposite, i tend to judge a person is good for giving me an umbrella because the nice action is relatively rare, while usually everyone is an asshole, in or outside a football match. :/

[ethanwalker]

I honestly would be thankful for the umbrella. and thank the guy.

[TheRandomAsian]

Honestly, if it was raining and the guy offered me an umbrella, I'd take it. Some people get really competitive and passionate about their team, and their actions can change based on that, but they can still be 'good' people. It's more common for people to be jerks at sports events than for someone to offer an umbrella anyway, so maybe that's what's skewing my perspective.

[carnotricecooker]

"A dishonest man you can always trust to be dishonest. Honestly. It’s the honest ones you want to watch out for, because you can never predict when they’re going to do something incredibly stupid." - Captain Jack Sparrow

[nicholasserfontein]

take the umbrella and be thankful to the person because maybe they'll see that being good is rewading and do something similar again

[redlotus]

First impression comes to us just by a random action which cannot portray the complete personality of a person. Therefore, I think we just use it as a factor to determine one's characteristic. It often takes me at least 1 month to have basic understanding about a person.

[colbonthecob]

I've always assumed that my firat thought or impression, is what society wants me to feel, and my second thought or impression is how I really feel.

[calebbbbbb]

There is something called: Forgiveness.

[jonanthansalter]

"unusual behavior" at the football game....have you been to a football game lmfao?

[hufflebuffben]

I was really hoping we'd get into how meeting people in different moods (having a good day vs a bad day) could also effect how we perceive other people (also having good/bad days) in that first encounter.

[cloe]

People aren’t always behaving as the best versions of themselves. Sometimes, you can be down and you don’t behave the way you’d like to. But when others judge you because of it, it sucks. I hate people who lack empathy and are narrow-minded when they judge others based on limited understanding and assumptions.

[bagandtag]

I'm used to people being bad :C
But when I do find a good person I don't care about the bad stuff they may do or have done.

[Moonshine]

"You can do 1000 good things for someone, and all they will remember is the 1 thing you did bad."

#NukeHumanity

[musicnoranges]

Last year at school I got really dizzy and I asked if someone could walk with me to the door before my mom could pick me up and a girl I barely knew got up immediately and walked with me and made sure I was okay. Now I have a super duper good impression of her just because of that one thing.

[TheGamerCreeper]

So what about a good impression first, and then a bad one?

[Desimere]

The last time i changed my impression about someone, what they did was perfectly ordinary, but entirely unexpected. I think it's not the rarity, it's more like we are machine-learning machines who try to predict the future and if our predictions are wrong (the reality manages to surprise us), then we update our models. The rare action theory fits within this framework.

[obxurity]

One of the managers at work is not well liked by other coworkers but I made sure to give a good first impression and introduced myself politely and told this manager how long I worked at this store and my skills in each department. It's been months and she still treats me with respect and is polite when we pass by each other. I always make sure to leave a good first impression especially meeting a new manager because it will determine how well the relationship between the two of you will be!

[yebhzsv]

Sometimes people choose to see only what they want to see. It's so much easier to say "Oh, this person ain't worth it!" than giving them a second chance and be understanding and courageous.

[jellyocean]

Ugh, i give out bad impressions all the time. Im shy and quiet when meeting new people. The other day, an acquaintance said i was shy while my friend said that i wasn't.

[LinkEX]

Am I the only one that finds it unusual that someone would offer a stranger his umbrella in the rain?
I'd most likely thank the guy and reconsider my first impression of him, as I consider that gesture just that kind of unexpected positive behavior described in the video.