Dr. Sanjay Srivastava
Associate Professor of Psychology
University of Oregon Personality is for Perceiving: Functions and Social Ecology of Personality Impressions People form impressions of one another’s personalities quickly, easily, and automatically in a wide range of circumstances. Conventional wisdom says that first impressions are important, but what functions do they actually serve in human social life? In this talk, I will present research from my lab on some of the consequences of personality impressions for relationships and social interactions. One topic we have worked on is how personality impressions help us understand the social difficulties people have when they hide their emotions from others. Another topic is how personality contributes to the formation of status hierarchies in small groups working on different kinds of tasks. And in ongoing work in my lab, we are studying how people form personality impressions of people they encounter in social media, and how they base important decisions on those impressions. This lecture is made possible in part by a generous Endowment by the family of Allen. L. Edwards. |