Half a minute: Predicting teacher evaluations from thin slices of nonverbal behavior and physical attractiveness.

Abstract

The accuracy of strangers' consensual judgments of personality based on thin of targets' nonverbal behavior were examined in relation to an ecologically valid criterion variable. In the 1st study, consensual judgments of college teachers' molar nonverbal behavior based on very brief (under 30 s) silent video clips significantly predicted global end-of-semester student evaluations of teachers. In the 2nd study, similar judgments predicted a principal's ratings of high school teachers. In the 3rd study, ratings of even thinner slices (6-s and 15-s clips) were strongly related to the criterion variables. Ratings of specific micrononverbal behaviors and ratings of teachers' physical attractiveness were not as strongly related to the criterion variable. These findings have important implications for the areas of personality judgment, impression formation, and nonverbal behavior. The ability to form impressions of others is a critical human skill. remarkable capacity we possess to understand something of the character of another person, to form a conception of him as a human being. . . with particular characteristics forming a distinct individuality is a precondition of social life (Asch, 1946, p. 258). In the present article, we show that this capacity is even more remarkable than Asch suggested: Our consensual impressions of others, even when based on very brief observations of nonverbal behavior, can sometimes be unexpectedly accurate. Kruglanski (1989) outlined the following definitions of the construct of accuracy in personality and social psychological research: (a) the degree of correspondence between a judgment and a criterion (the most popular definition in psychological research), (b) interpersonal consensus, and (c) a construct possessing pragmatic utility. Much of the recent research on impression formation and personality judgment has been focused on the second definition regarding interpersonal consensus among individuals in their judgments regarding the personality traits of others. This research has revealed three quite surprising findings regarding strangers' judgments of others. First, people can concur remarkably in some of their judgments of complete strangers, thus exhibiting high consensual accuracy (Albright, Kenny, & Malloy, 1988; Kenny, Homer, Kashy, & Chu, 1992; Paunonen, 1991). Second, these judgments can be