Impression formation

Impression formation in social psychology refers to the process by which individual pieces of information about another person are integrated to form a global impression of the individual (i.e. how one person perceives another person). Underlying this entire process is the notion that an individual expects unity and coherence in the personalities of others. Consequently, an individual's impression of another should be similarly unified. Two major theories have been proposed to explain how this process of integration takes place. The Gestalt approach views the formation of a general impression as the sum of several interrelated impressions. Central to this theory is the idea that as an individual seeks to form a coherent and meaningful impression of another person, previous impressions significantly influence or color his or her interpretation of subsequent information. In contrast to the Gestalt approach, the cognitive algebra approach of information integration theory asserts that individual experiences are evaluated independently, and combined with previous evaluations to form a constantly changing impression of a person. An important and related area to impression formation is the study of person perception, which refers to the process of observing behavior, making dispositional attributions, and then adjusting those inferences based on the information available.Solomon Asch (1946) is credited with conducting the seminal research on impression formation.

Impression formation has traditionally been studied using three methods pioneered by Asch: free response, free association, and a check-list form. In addition, a fourth method based on a Likert scale with anchors such as “very favorable” and “very unfavorable”, has also been used in recent research. A combination of some or all of these techniques is often employed to produce the most accurate assessment of impression formation.

Free response is an experimental method frequently used in impression formation research. The participant (or perceiver) is presented with a stimulus (usually a short vignette or a list of personality descriptors such as assured, talkative, cold, etc.) and then instructed to briefly sketch his or her impressions of the type of person described. This is a useful technique for gathering detailed and concrete evidence on the nature of the impression formed. However, the difficulty of accurately coding responses often necessitates the use of additional quantitative measures.

...
Wikipedia