First impressions are the most lasting, so the proverb goes, and scientists have found that mere minutes may be all the time you have to leave a favourable one.
Researchers from Canada invited 372 volunteers to take part in speed dating events, with the daters rating each other’s personalities after each three-minute session.
The team found that, generally, people could get an accurate picture of their date within that time, but that those who felt greater well-being were easier to read.
However, the researchers are not sure whether people who are happier in life are more authentic, or whether being understood leads to a sense of satisfaction.
Previous work found people can quickly form accurate impressions of strangers in platonic settings, like when striking up conversation with a new classmate.
However, the team wanted to see if this was still possible in higher-stakes situations like first dates, where impressions are key for deciding whether to pursue romance.
They have come to the conclusion that it is, although the task may be harder than in a more casual social setting.
First impressions are the most lasting — and scientists have now found that mere minutes may be all the time you have to leave a favourable one. Pictured: a couple on a first date
In the study, the team recruited 372 volunteers for the speed dating sessions, which were held around Montreal in 2017 and 2018, before the current global pandemic.
Before each event, each participant was asked to complete a questionnaire designed to evaluate both their personality and sense of well-being, with the results validated against a similar assessment of them made by a friend or family member.
Following each three-minute speed date, the participants rated their partner’s personality — with the researchers finding that, on average, most people were able to accurately take stock of their date’s character.
However, some people proved easier to make out than others.
‘Some people are open books whose distinctive personalities can be accurately perceived after a brief interaction, whereas others are harder to read,’ said paper author and psychologist Lauren Gazzard Kerr of McGill University.
‘Strikingly, people who report higher well-being, self-esteem, and satisfaction with life tend to make the task easier,’ she added.
The reason for this, the team suggest, could be that some people are better at effective self-presentation.
‘Perhaps people that have greater well-being behave in ways that are more in line with their personality — being more authentic or true to themselves,’ said paper author and psychologist Lauren Human, also of McGill.
In their previous work, the team explained, they had found evidence that this was true in more platonic social settings.
On the other hand, Professor Human noted, it could just as well be that people who are generally perceived more accurately — and are thus better understood by their peers — come to experience greater well-being as a result.
With their initial study complete, the researcher are now looking to determine exactly why those who report feeling greater well-being are perceived more accurately on first dates.
They also want to explore the consequences of accurate first impressions on subsequent romantic interest.
‘Understanding why some people are able to be seen more accurately could help us determine strategies that other people could apply to enhance how accurately they are perceived,’ said Professor Human.
The full findings of the study were published in the Journal of Research in Personality.