“Imagine you have a new colleague at work and your impression of that person is not very favorable. A few weeks later, you meet your colleague at a party and you realize he is actually a very nice guy. Although you know your first impression was wrong, your gut response to your new colleague will be influenced by your new experience only in contexts that are similar to the party. However, your first impression will still dominate in all other contexts.” – Bertram Gawronski, Canada Research Chair at The University of Western Ontario
First impressions are difficult to overcome – ‘you never get a second chance to make a first impression’. A study reported in Journal of Experimental Psychology, bears this out. They were able to scientifically demonstrate this thinking error. They were able to show rather conclusively that a first impression tends to apply to all contexts (the rule) whereas contradictory evidence tends to apply only to certain contexts (exceptions to the rule).
First impressions can be changed. It’s not easy, though:


