Primacy Effect

From Wikipedia:

"The primacy effect, in psychology and sociology, is a cognitive bias that results from disproportionate salience of initial stimuli or observations. For example, a subject who reads a sufficiently long list of words is more likely to remember words toward the beginning than words in the middle.

The phenomenon is said to be due to the fact that the short-term memory at the beginning of whatever sequence of events is being presented, is far less "crowded" and that since there are far fewer items being processed in the brain at the time when presented than later, there is more time for rehearsal of the stimuli which can cause them to be "transferred" to the long-term memory for longer storage."

In ENGLISH, and how it applies to social situations, is the FIRST IMPRESSION. When we first meet a person, or even before that if they are set up in some fashion, we filter all the information following the initial impression BASED ON THAT. So, in other words, if you come off as an asshole right off the bat with someone, everything you do from that point forward will be viewed through that lens. You could be the nicest person in the world, but since you were having a bad day when you ran into this other person for the first time, you are forever an asshole no matter what. Let's try to avoid bad first impressions, they last a long long time. One simple way to remedy the bad first impression is to apologize, to say "I am so embarrassed by what I did." Three things happen. First, you admit that you were wrong. Second, you admit you're human...and people like it when you make a mistake and show humility by admitting wrong. Lastly, you show that you're honest. To make a great first impression, SMILE! Simple. Using positive language helps as well. NO matter how bad your day or life is, just remember the be in the best of spirits when you meet someone for the first time. It lasts long after you go your separate ways.

TF