Bad first impression hard to overcome

COLUMBUS, Ohio, Jan. 8 (UPI) -- A bad first impression can be harder to overcome than a betrayal that occurs after ties are established in a relationship, a U.S. study found.

Study co-author Robert Lount of Ohio State University said first impressions matter when you want to build a lasting trust.

Lount and colleagues, using a game in psychology called prisoner's dilemma, had college students participate in a game in which their partners violated their trust either right at the beginning of the game or somewhere in the middle. In this version, the two players had to decide separately and privately whether they were going to cooperate with each other or defect against their partner in exchange for a monetary reward.

"If you get off on the wrong foot, the relationship may never be completely right again," Lount said in a statement. "It's easier to rebuild trust after a breach if you already have a strong relationship."

While the importance of first impressions may seem obvious, Lount said there is still a common theme in popular culture that suggests many great relationships start off badly.

"Our results fly in the face of this Hollywood notion of hating someone at first sight but then developing a wonderful, passionate relationship," Lount said. "The likelihood of that happening in real life is pretty low."

The study appears in a recent issue of the journal Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin.