First dates require would-be partners to make and interpret first impressions, and those would accurately assess someone's personality, according to researchers from McGill University. While previous studies have shown that people can form accurate impressions of new acquaintances in platonic settings - like casual conversations with new classmates - the researchers wanted to find out if the same was true for higher-stakes situations like first dates.
‘Some people are open books whose distinctive personalities can be accurately perceived after a brief interaction, whereas others are harder to read.’
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To find answers, they invited 372 participants to partake in speed-dating events in Montreal in 2017 and 2018. Participants were asked to complete a questionnaire assessing their personality and well-being.Read More..
A close friend or family member also completed a questionnaire on the participant's personality. Participants then had a series of brief, three-minute first dates; after each interaction, they rated their date's personality.
On average, people did see their dates' personalities accurately, but some dates were easier to read than others. "Some people are open books whose distinctive personalities can be accurately perceived after a brief interaction, whereas others are harder to read," says co-author Lauren Gazzard Kerr, a PhD student in the Department of Psychology at McGill University under the supervision of Professor Lauren Human.
"Strikingly, people who report higher well-being, self-esteem, and satisfaction with life tend to make the task easier," she says.
Why are some people easier to read?
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Alternatively, it may be that people who are perceived more accurately come to experience greater well-being - not necessarily that greater well-being leads to being perceived more accurately. Both are plausible, according to Human.
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"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," says Human.
Source-Eurekalert