scorecard
  1. Home
  2. strategy
  3. 12 things people decide within seconds of meeting you

12 things people decide within seconds of meeting you

Yu Han,Shana Lebowitz   

12 things people decide within seconds of meeting you
Strategy1 min read

12 things decide 01

Yu Han/Business Insider

Psychologists call it "thin slicing."

Within moments of meeting you, people decide all sorts of things about you, from status to intelligence to conscientiousness.

Career experts say it takes just three seconds for someone to determine whether they like you and want to do business with you.

Fortunately, you have some control over the way others see you. For example, wearing tailored clothes and looking your conversation partner in the eye will generally create a more positive impression. But as for how aggressive you seem? That's largely determined by your facial structure.

Here, we've rounded up 13 assumptions people make about you - sometimes accurate and sometimes less so - based on first impressions. Read on to find out what signals you might be giving off.

Drake Baer contributed reporting on a previous version of this article.

READ MORE ARTICLES ON


Advertisement

Advertisement