| Abstract: | Reviews the book, First impressions, edited by Nalini Ambady and John J. Skowronski (see record 2008-09248-000). This book addresses the questions of how impressions are formed and their effects on thought, feeling, and behaviour. Its goal is to provide a comprehensive overview of the most recent theoretical approaches and empirical data that inform our understanding of perceivers’ immediate impressions of others. Edited by two leading investigators in the field and bringing together an impressive array of experts, the book is well organised and well written, offering a balance of classic and cutting-edge findings. The book is organised into four parts. Part 1 considers biological aspects of impression formation. Part 2 focuses on the factors that make first impressions more or less accurate. Part 3 addresses how facial cues—on their own or in conjunction with other cues—influence the contents or processes of impression formation. Part 4 focuses on how behavioural and environmental cues influence the contents or processes of impression formation. First impressions succeeds in its mandate to provide a broad overview of what we currently know about the processes and moderators involved in impression formation. In so doing, it fulfills an important role, in that no other volume currently exists to organise our knowledge about impression formation—arguably one of the most central topics in social psychology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved) |
