After reading Ch. 5 I found the implicit personality theory intriguing. We are all guilty of judging people before we get to know them and often times take "shortcuts" in our assessments of others. According to the book the theory holds that we assume we can know someone relatively easy based on a few cues. The book suggest we think this way because we believe people are consistent in the ways they think and act. However it may be an efficient way of assessing someone but it can also not be the best way.
I can admit that I am guilty of judging and assessing someone before I even know them. Sometimes I am right on and sometimes my assessments are off. Back in high school I always thought this one particular girl who was an ex girlfriend of one of my guy friends was mean and unfriendly. I never saw her smile and always assumed she was unfriendly. Then her and my friend started to date again and she quickly became one of my best friends and is the kindest and most sweet person I have ever met. Just because she never smiled and always looked mean I assumed she was but it was actually the opposite...she just doesn't like to smile lol.
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You did a good job of explaining the implicit personality theory. I also find that I try to assess people before knowing more about them. Sometimes I even try to put them in a category and/or predict what they will do next. You mentioned that your best friend doesn't like to smile, making you think that she was unfriendly. Yet, there are some people who smile alot, making you think that they are friendly, but they are actually vicious and mean.
That is too funny! I guess some people don't like to smile. I hear what you are saying though. I think many people lose opportunities to meet great people because of their pre-judging. I admit being guilty of that a few times but I really try to go out of my way to find out the truth. This way, I know that I did all I could to get to know somewhere and not judge them so quickly (even though I want to).
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