Importance Of First Impressions

Even scientists believe in love at first sight. In fact, a recent study determined that in ten minutes you can often accurately predict whether a relationship is likely to be fulfilling and long term or not. Hopeless romantics and romance novel junkies can take heart – there is such a think as love at first sight.

What a scientific relationship study concluded recently is that the first few minutes you spend with a new person has a great influence on the ultimate course and outcome of the relationship. There is, the scientists determine, something besides thinking the person’s looks are hot, that make the love at first sight idea a believable one.

The study of love at first sight and other relationship phenomenon was conducted by communication experts, researchers who paired 164 college students at random, letting them talking to each other for three minutes, then six minutes, and finally ten minutes each. Once the conversations were completed each student had to complete a questionnaire that asked her or him to predict the relationship they thought they would have with the other person(s). They were to say if it would be casual, if they would be close friends, if it might be romantic, and how much they thought they had in common with the other person. They also stated how much they liked each other person that they met. (Click here to read the BBC news report)

The study of love at first sight lasted nine weeks. At the end of that nine week period each student was required to document the accuracy of her or his first predictions. What they found was that those who had noted a positive impression in the first meeting generally had become friends with those they predicted as such. It didn’t matter if they talked for three minutes, for six minutes, or for 10 minutes. The first impressions turned out to be quite accurate.

The researchers had expected that love at first sight was really about people spending a few days with each other and then falling head over heels. What they found instead was that just a few minutes determined the course of the relationship in many cases. One researcher called it a self-fulfilling prophecy.

She said that once people predicted a positive relationship with someone that made more of an effort to get to know that person and share more of themselves in turn. They communicated more and so the friendship developed more quickly and more deeply.

For those who’d like to give this love at first sight thing a little shove in the right direction there are a couple of hints. Women should wear red to their first encounter with a potential mate. Red, the theory is, is thrilling and stimulating. The sight of red causes blood to flow more quickly and makes the wearer look more attractive to the viewer. Men, on the other hand, should wear blue. Blue, in the eyes of women, delivers the message of stability, dependability and faithfulness. A smile can help stimulate love at first sight as well.

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