First impressions happen fast, and research suggests people start forming surprisingly detailed opinions from only a few minutes of interaction.
1. Whether Someone Seems Interested
People notice engagement quickly—eye contact, listening and whether someone actually responds to what was said. In a study of 194 strangers, judgments changed after interactions lasting less than five minutes, with engagement-related behavior having a major influence on impressions.
2. How Someone Treats Other People
A person’s behavior toward waiters, receptionists or strangers can become part of the impression almost immediately. Research on first impressions consistently finds that agreeableness-related behavior is among the traits people attempt to judge during brief interactions.
3. Whether Someone Seems Confident
Confidence is one of the characteristics people try to infer almost instantly. A 2025 large-scale first-impression project collected judgments from 9,671 users, showing just how routinely people evaluate personality from limited information.
4. How Much Someone Talks
Conversation provides surprisingly useful information. In research involving 97 pairs of strangers, people became better at judging personality after a five-minute conversation, with behaviors connected to engagement and extraversion strongly influencing impressions.
5. Whether Someone Is Warm or Cold
A smile, facial expression and general approachability can heavily shape an initial opinion. Research using 1,000 naturalistic face photographs found that judgments of several personality traits were strongly connected to perceived approachability.
6. How Someone Dresses
Clothing becomes part of the information people use before much conversation has happened. A 2026 study of 689 participants found that people made social judgments after just a three-minute interaction, while researchers continue to find that appearance can influence those judgments.
7. Whether Someone Is Awkward
The first few minutes aren’t always representative. Research comparing different portions of five-minute interactions found that judgments became more accurate with longer exposure, meaning the awkward opening moments can tell people less than they think.
8. Whether Someone Seems Trustworthy
Trust is one of the fastest judgments people attempt to make about strangers. Researchers describe interpersonal judgments as influencing decisions ranging from friendships to hiring and promotion, even though appearance-based judgments can sometimes be inaccurate.
Sources:
- Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, From photograph to face-to-face: Brief interactions change person and personality judgments (ScienceDirect)
- Behavior Research Methods, A large-scale, gamified online assessment of first impressions (Springer)
- Journal of Social Psychology, Do Social Judgements Made From Facial Photographs Predict Those Made In-Person? (2026) (Sage Journals)
- Personality judgments from everyday images of faces (pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)
- A thin slice perspective on the accuracy of first impressions (ScienceDirect)
