Individual differences in judgmental tendencies derived from first impressions

Abstract

This report introduces the First Impression Interaction Procedure (FIIP) as a new method of assessing participant initial reactions to unfamiliar partners encountered during 25-min uncontrolled interaction sessions. The 14-item FIIP rating form quantifies first impression central tendency (Judgment Index), variability (Judgment Variability Index), and the degree to which participants judged others more harshly than self (Judgment Ratio). Selected participants can also be distinguished by their tendency to form and express unusually harsh first impressions of others. College students ( n=252) completed two FIIP interaction sessions with six partners. Internal consistency and temporal stability coefficients for the three FIIP measures ranged from 0.85 to 0.94. Judgment Index scores in excess of 1 S.D. from the mean were shown to reflect a generalized tendency for participants to form and express first impressions that were typically 1.5–2 S.D.s harsher than 80% of their interaction partners.