KINE 1000 - Socio-Cultural Perspectives: Decoding First Impressions

This essay delves into the concept of first impressions, examining how they are formed and the lasting impact they have on social perceptions. It highlights factors such as dressing code, confidence, and communication styles that influence initial judgments. The author shares personal experiences to illustrate how first impressions, whether based on appearance, demeanor, or facial features, shape opinions and expectations. The essay also discusses the challenges in changing these initial perceptions, emphasizing the importance of accentuating one's strengths to create positive first encounters. It concludes that while first impressions are inevitable, understanding their dynamics can help individuals manage and improve their social interactions. Desklib offers a wealth of similar essays and study resources for students.

Running head: FIRST IMPRESSIONS
First Impressions
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation

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First Impressions
First impressions refer to the opinions that an individual form concerning others in the
first few seconds of meeting. There are many factors that may influence how those
impressions will be like. These include the dressing code, how a person talks and confidence
that one exudes. An individual cannot avoid these first impressions since they almost happen
subconsciously. Once formed, these opinions tend to remain engrained individuals and may
take time and effort to change. The best strategy seems to ensure that as much as possible, the
first impressions will be good. this could be through dressing elegantly, being confident and
maximizing on the strengths. This is very important even in formal meetings such as
interviews. People will always create first impressions and use them to form opinions about
you. The body and factors surrounding it (for instance dressing, looks and the way one talks)
influence the first impressions that people will make about you.
To illustrate the phenomenon of first impressions and how it works, I will explain my
experience. Ever since I was a child, I have always liked dressing in a formal but smart way.
Unlike most of my peers, I do not like wearing clothes that a mixture of many colours nor
those that significantly expose my body. I would describe it as inherent. No one taught me or
advised me to like such mode of dressing, I just found myself liking it. For my dressing, I
always receive opinions from other people. These opinions are usually based on the way that
I dress. These opinions are also varied in some way mainly depending on the age of the
observer. For instance, when I was little and even in high school, the new people I met
thought of me as a person who is calm and collected. In other word they thought that I am a
person who is not ‘corrupted’ by the world. In the current day, when I meet people for the
first time, they think of me as a serious business person. It is amazing how people can judge
you from the way you dress even when they know nothing/so little about you. Since these

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episodes have been several, I can safely and confidently conclude that people use the first
impressions to form opinions about you.
Another first impression that people do form about me is based on the way I talk and
walk. Due to reading books about success and how to pursue it, I have come across great
advice on the qualities of a successful person. During my interaction with the books, I have
discovered that being confident and emotionally intelligent are very key factors for any
person who want to succeed in their endeavours. This is mainly because we will always have
to interact with other people in some way. From the knowledge gained, I have mastered the
art of being confident and emotionally intelligent. I have also learnt to walk in a manner that
reflects confidence and self-belief. This does not go unnoticed. Most are the times that when I
interact with people for the first time, they thin of me as a potential leader. In fact, I have
been appointed as a leader in several places and teams just because of the traits mentioned
above. I remember an instance where we went for a discussion forum and I was appointed to
lead the forum. Later I learnt that the reason for being appointed was that I looked confident
and walked in a manner likely to suggest the same.
The last point of discussion will be the shape of the face. The shape of the face
involuntarily determines the impressions other people will form about you. It is true that no
one controls how they look. However, maximizing on the strengths and being confident will
increase the chances that people will form good impressions about you despite the shape of
the face. I have made many friends on the first instance just because they thought that I
looked sociable. This is rather subjective and there is no scientific way of differentiating the
face of a sociable person from that on one who is not sociable. I would therefore conclude
that people will use the first impressions to form some judgements. The only way to react to
the situation to make it better is to accentuate the strengths. This way, the impressions formed
will be relatively positive in nature.

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From the discussion above, people use the first impressions to make opinions about
others. We have also seen that once formed, it is difficult to change these opinions despite
overwhelming evidence to the contrary. The possible reason why people behave this way is
that they are emotional in nature and they learn by associations. Often, people make
conclusions depending on what they see. For instance, if a person is dressed in torn clothes,
the average person will assume that that person is either poor or has some mental problem.
While this is almost always true, sometime even a wealthy man would dress that way for
their own reasons. People are also attracted to that which is attractive. For instance, uniformly
orange coloured orange is likely to attract the attention of many people. The first impression
is that the orange must be juicy, succulent and sweet. That is not necessarily the reality. In a
nutshell, people associate what they see with the qualities that are likely to be exhibited the
one/what is being observed. It follows that people will always make some opinions based on
the first impressions.
In conclusion, first impressions are almost inevitable. People will form some opinions
about you when you first meet. The factors that are used in forming such opinions include the
shape of the face, the way one is dressed, and the general state of emotions. Once these
perceptions/opinions are formed, it is difficult for them to be changed even when lots of
evidence is provide/becomes available to prove the contrary. The only way to have good
standing seems to be accentuating the strengths. In a nutshell, people will always make some
judgement during the first meeting with a person.

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