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Essay First Impressions

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In every first encounter with another person, we make judgments about them almost immediately based on a few simple factors. In the first few seconds upon meeting a new acquaintance we will take in and subconsciously process their age, choice in style of clothes, hair, their posture and the way that they carry themselves. In that short time we will form subconscious opinions about them based on our own personal prejudices and bias. After the first initial visual judgment we generally move into the physical greeting. In western culture we will shake the hand of a person we have just initially met and this simple act will be the next test for our minds to run on this person. We will judge the character of their grip, whether it is a …show more content…

However, if the first impression was not a pleasant one we will likely experience some apprehension or fear at the prospect of encountering that person again. As the relationship continues it is possible to change your opinion of the person, but that first impression is nearly indelible, and it would take some extreme effort to alter. In the article “First Impressions” (Clark, 2010) we are first presented with a story entitled “John is an Extrovert” (Clark, 2010). This title is the first piece of the picture that I will build for John, and it immediately begins the process that my mind goes through to categorize John. When he is labeled an “extrovert” (Clark, 2010) I immediately assume that he is a happy, outgoing individual and he will be pleasant to talk to and interact with. Now I have some expectations for John, and when he “entered the store which was full of people” (Clark, 2010) there is no reason for me to expect him to be apprehensive. This assumption is validated when I read “John talked with an acquaintance while he waited for the clerk to catch his eye. On his way out, he stopped to chat with a friend who was just coming into the store” (Clark, 2010). This reinforces John’s social competence and his outgoing nature. I begin to form the idea that he knows a lot of people and that he has a lot of friends. “On his way back to the office he met a girl who he had

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