Many first impressions may be accurate

ROHNERT PARK, Calif., Nov. 5 (UPI) -- People jump to conclusions about others on very little information but many of the impressions have a kernel of truth to them, U.S. researchers said.

Psychologists Laura Naumann of Sonoma State University and Sam Gosling of The University of Texas at Austin had study participants view full-body photographs of 123 people they had never met before.

The people in the photographs were viewed either in a controlled pose with a neutral facial expression or in a naturally expressed pose. The accuracy of the judgments was gauged by comparing them to the aggregate of self-ratings and those of three informants who knew the targets well, a criterion widely regarded as the gold standard in personality research.

Even when viewing the targets in the controlled pose, the observers could accurately judge some major personality traits, including extraversion and self-esteem, but the observers still made plenty of mistakes.

Most traits were hard to detect under these conditions but when observers saw naturally expressive behavior, such as a smiling expression or energetic stance, their judgments were accurate for nine of the 10 personality traits. The 10 traits were extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, emotional stability, openness, likability, self-esteem, loneliness, religiosity and political orientation.

The findings are scheduled to be published in the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin.