First impressions are commonly assumed to be particularly important: Information about a person that we obtain early on may shape our overall impression of that person more strongly than information obtained later. In contrast to previous research, the present series of preregistered analyses uses actual person judgment data to investigate this so-called primacy effect: Perceivers (N = 1,395) judged the videotaped behavior of target persons (N = 200) in 10 different situations. Separate subsamples of about 200 perceivers each were used in moving from exploratory to increasingly confirmatory analyses. Contrary to our expectations, no primacy effect was found. Instead, judgments of the targets in later situations were more strongly associated with overall impressions, indicating an acquaintance effect. Relying on early information seems unreasonable when more comprehensive information is readily available. Early information may, however, affect perceivers’ behavioral reactions to the targets and thus their future interactions, if such interactions are possible.

通常认为第一印象尤为重要：我们较早获得的一个人的信息可能比后来获得的信息更能强烈地塑造我们对该人的总体印象。与先前的研究相反，本系列的预注册分析使用实际的人判断数据来调查这种所谓的首要效应：知觉者（N = 1,395）判断了目标人的录像行为（N= 200）在10种不同情况下。从探索性分析到越来越多的确认性分析，使用了大约200个感知器的单独子样本。与我们的预期相反，没有发现主导作用。相反，在较晚情况下对目标的判断与总体印象之间的联系更为紧密，这表明了熟人效应。当更容易获得更全面的信息时，依靠早期信息似乎是不合理的。但是，如果可能的话，早期信息可能会影响感知者对目标的行为反应，进而影响他们未来的互动。