Do We Know the First Impressions We Make? Evidence for Idiographic Meta-Accuracy and Calibration of First Impressions

Abstract

Can we trust our beliefs about the first impressions we make? The current article addresses this question by assessing “idiographic” meta-accuracy, or people’s ability to detect how another person views their characteristic pattern of traits, and people’s awareness of their level of meta-accuracy. Results from two samples suggest that people do achieve idiographic meta-accuracy (i.e., they know which traits a new acquaintance perceives as particularly characteristic of them) and that people’s beliefs about the first impression they make are well calibrated (i.e., the people who are relatively more confident in the accuracy of their metaperceptions are in fact more accurate). Implications of idiographic meta-accuracy and the calibration of meta-accuracy are discussed, as are the ways in which future research can improve our understanding of the process of metaperception formation and the interpersonal consequences of meta-accuracy.