November 22, 2021

The other day, as I was scrolling aimlessly through my phone looking to see which social media rabbit hole I would fall down this time, a notification popped up titled: ‘A Year Ago Today…..’ attached to a tiny photo of me and some of my friends that I had taken my freshman year. After clicking on the notification and promptly being transported a year into the past, I got to thinking. How did I know that these people would stay in my life? How did I know that I had picked good ones? 

Now, these questions, (the last one in particular), have kind of just floundered around in my head, bumping into due dates and violently sliding past upcoming assignments. It was not until my Psych 290 midterm was approaching that these questions resurfaced. For reference, Psychology 290 is officially titled ‘Psychology of Personality’. As I began flipping through Chapter 5 of my textbook, using every fiber of my being to absorb the definitions, research methods, and the Big Five Trait characteristics printed onto the pages, I came across a sub-section titled ‘First Impressions’. Instantly, images of that ‘A Year Ago Today’ notification began flashing across my eyelids, accompanied with HOW DID I KNOW THAT I HAD PICKED GOOD FRIENDS? in big block letters scattered along my retinas. 

I am happy to announce that I spent the vast majority of my most concentrated studying on this one section!

So, now that all that backstory is out of the way, I am going to do my best to help you all understand the psychology of trusting your gut. When we first see someone, subconsciously we begin making judgements about them and who we perceive them to be. This happens almost immediately, similar to a reflex, and requires no effort. But, the validity of judgements based on first impressions was not always accepted, particularly when only taking certain parts of the face into account (such as attempting to characterize someone based on their nose size or head shape). However, more and more studies have been focusing on looking at the entire face holistically, and these studies pay attention to the configural properties of faces. When research such as this is taken into consideration, our ability to make accurate judgements from first impressions is much more plausible. 

There are five main personality traits: Openness to Experience, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism; each of these traits has certain characteristics that accompany them. For example, people who are very open to experiences are usually described as creative and curious. People who are very conscientious are typically described as highly organized and reliable. Those who are very extroverted tend to be outgoing and have a high positive effect, and those who rank high in agreeableness are often described as kind and cooperative. Lastly, those who are very neurotic may be described as having difficulty regulating their emotions and having a negative effect. Each of us ranks either high or low in each of these five traits.

Let’s consider how this can apply to us.

Thinking back to first impressions, people tend to be able to accurately depict two of these five traits consistently based on faces: Extraversion and Agreeableness. One study found that when participants looked at computer generated composite face portraits for each trait, the participants were able to gauge high versus low scores of Extraversion and Agreeableness. (And, interestingly, emotional stability is able to be accurately judged as well, but only in men. You may think whatever you want about that information.) Now, it is important to recognize that fragments of this information came from studies that were based in artificial situations. However, psychologists have come to accept the general consensus that when we look at someone else’s face, we are able to make surprisingly accurate judgements about their personality. 

After studying all of this information and combing through this section of my textbook, I have ultimately concluded three things. One, I had picked good friends because I trusted my gut. It seems a bit redundant to say that after two pages of explaining it, but it can’t hurt to explicitly state the obvious. Two, the human face holds infinitely more information than you might think. And three, for some unknown purpose I have been gifted with the incredible ability to judge other people’s character. So have you. 

So, the next time that you meet someone, and that tiny homunculus between your ears begins whispering their impressions of them, it could be a considerably good idea to trust yourself. 

The fact that humans are overall good judges of character has already been proven, what do you have to lose? 

Works Cited

Funder, David Charles. The Personality Puzzle. 8th ed., W. W. Norton & Co., 2019.