Evolutionary Bases of First Impressions

Why do we form first impressions at all? What kinds of information are especially likely to influence our first impressions, and what specific impressions are inspired by that information? Under what conditions are we especially likely to form specific kinds of first impressions? What specific psychological mechanisms are responsible for producing these inferential phenomena? These are fundamental questions in the study of first impressions. A lot of different theoretical perspectives can be applied to address those questions. This chapter focuses on the meta-theoretical perspective supplied by evolutionary psychology. I discuss various ways in which the logic of evolutionary inquiry can be applied fruitfully to the study of first impressions.