Definition

The primacy effect concerns how one's impressions of others are formed. Thus, it relates to the field of psychology known as person perception, which studies how people form impressions of others. The word primacy itself is generally defined in the dictionary as the state of being first in order or importance. In a similar manner, according to the primacy principle, when generating impressions of others, what we think and feel about a person is strongly influenced by our very first impressions of that person. Therefore, when one is making judgments of others, first impressions are more important than later impressions. It seems that first impressions tend to color or bias later judgments of a person. They do this in a way that is consistent with ...