Lead:

The impression left by people in their first interaction is formed and dominant in the minds of the other person, and this effect is called the first cause effect. When we say "make a good impression", we generally mean the first impression. Therefore, in social activities such as making friends, recruiting, and applying for jobs, we can use this effect to show an excellent image and lay a good foundation for future communication.

Readers who are familiar with "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" know that there is such a story:

Zhang Songyuan is another driver under Liu Zhang, Yizhou Mu of Xichuan, "surnamed Zhang, named Song, and the word Yongnian." He was born with a pointed forehead, a nose and teeth, a short body of less than five feet, and a speech like a bronze bell. "But this is such a short, ugly figure, who can speak well and read well. Even Yang Xiu, a talented man who has always been proud of his talents, was amazed that he was "really a genius in the world!" "Because Hanning was too guarded by Zhang Lu and wanted to raise troops to take Sichuan, Zhang Pingsheng was cowardly, and when he heard this letter, he was very worried. Zhang Song volunteered to send Xu Du as an envoy, and secretly hid the geographical map of Xichuan with him, wanting to dedicate Xichuan to Cao Cao.

Who knew that Cao Cao was already very unhappy when he saw that Zhang Songqi was not good-looking, and coupled with his remarks, he was even more annoyed and almost cut off his head. Zhang Song changed to Liu Bei in a fit of anger, although Liu Bei had a bad first impression of Zhang Song, but under the guidance of Zhuge Liang, Liu Bei was very good to Zhang Song, which made him very moved, Zhang Song then gave Xichuan to Liu Bei, and Liu Bei rose rapidly from then on, and finally formed a three-legged pattern with Cao Cao and Sun Quan.

In the story, Cao Cao lost the perfect opportunity to take Xichuan because his first impression of Zhang Song was very bad, while Liu Bei finally won Xichuan because he broke his first impression of Zhang Song under the guidance of Zhuge Liang.

First impressions are known in psychology as the "first cause effect". The so-called "first cause effect" refers to the effect that is formed and dominated in the minds of the other person after the impression left by the first interaction between people.

A psychologist once conducted an experiment:

Divide the participants into two groups and look at the same photo. To Group A, this is a criminal who has been taught repeatedly. Say to Group B: This is a famous scientist. After reading the test, ask the participants to analyze the personality traits of the person based on his appearance. As a result, Group A said: The deep-set eyes hide a sinister look, and the high forehead shows his determination to die without repentance. Group B said: The deep gaze indicates that he is thoughtful, and the towering forehead indicates the scientist's will to explore.

This experiment shows that the positive mental stereotype formed by the first impression will make people more inclined to discover the qualities of the other person with good meaning in subsequent understanding. If the first impression forms a negative mental attitude, it will make people tend to reveal the disgusting part of the object in subsequent understanding.

The first cause effect has a greater impact on people in interpersonal communication, and it is an important term in communicative psychology. The impression left by people in their first interaction is formed and dominant in the minds of the other person, and this effect is called the first cause effect. When we often say "make a good impression", we generally refer to the first impression, and there is a role of the first cause effect here. Therefore, in social activities such as making friends, recruiting, and applying for jobs, we can use this effect to show an excellent image and lay a good foundation for future communication. Of course, this is only a temporary behavior in social activities, and deeper interactions require your hardware to be complete. This requires you to strengthen your quality in speech, manners, self-cultivation, etiquette, etc., otherwise it will lead to the negative impact of another effect, that is, the proximate effect.

A journalism graduate is in a hurry to find a job. One day, he went to a newspaper office and said to the editor-in-chief, "Do you need an editor?" ”

"No, you don't!"

"And what about journalists?"

"No, you don't!"

"And what about the typesetters, the proofreaders?"

"No, we don't have any vacancies now."

"Well, you must need this." As he spoke, he took out a delicate little sign from his briefcase, which read, "Full quota, not hired for the time being."

The editor-in-chief looked at the sign, nodded with a smile, and said, "If you want, you can work in our advertising department." ”

The college student expressed his wit and optimism through the sign he made, which left a good "first impression" on the editor-in-chief, aroused his great interest, and thus won himself a satisfying job.

Economists believe that because the first impression is mainly gender, age, clothing, posture, facial expressions and other "external characteristics", under normal circumstances, a person's posture, posture, conversation, dress, etc. reflect the person's internal literacy and other personality characteristics to a certain extent. Therefore, we must improve our image by improving our self-cultivation, lay the foundation for future success, and build a good step.

The first-cause effect tells us that people's impressions based on the information they initially receive are not easily changed, and even affect the interpretation of new information that they receive later. Experiments have proved that the first impression is difficult to change. The first impression mainly relies on gender, age, posture, posture, conversation, facial expression, clothing, etc., to judge a person's inner quality and personality characteristics. Therefore, in the process of daily interaction, especially when interacting with others for the first time, you must pay attention to leaving a good impression on others.