In a famous social-science experiment conducted in 1946 by psychologist Solomon Asch, participants were given one of two sentences. The first began, “Steve is smart, diligent, critical, impulsive, and jealous.” The second read, “Steve is jealous, impulsive, critical, diligent, and smart.” Although both sentences contained the same information, the first one led with positive traits while the second one started with negatives. When asked to evaluate what they thought of Steve, subjects who were given the first sentence evaluated him more positively than those given the second. This is an example of what social scientists refer to as the “primacy effect,” and it’s why the adage “You never get a second chance to make a first impression” matters—first impressions tend to last.
Authors: Carolyn Dewar, Kurt Strovink, Scott Keller, Vikram Malhotra
Source: McKinsey Quarterly
Subjects: Communication, Organizational Behavior
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