Why first impressions from photos mislead

In short

We form a judgment about a face in roughly a tenth of a second, and more time mainly makes us more certain, not more accurate. These snap judgments are strikingly consistent between people, yet they are poor predictors of who someone really is. On top of that, a photo is not the person: different photos of the same face lead to very different impressions, and attractiveness quietly colours how we judge someone's character. In short, starting with a photo points you the wrong way. You get to know someone better in a conversation, and only then does a photo mean anything.

A judgment in a tenth of a second

Researchers Janine Willis and Alexander Todorov showed people faces for just one hundred milliseconds, a tenth of a second. That turned out to be enough to form a judgment about trustworthiness, competence and attractiveness. When participants were then given more time, their judgment barely changed. They only became more sure of it.

That is exactly what happens when you scroll through a row of photos. You think you are looking and weighing things up, but your judgment was already set before you noticed. The rest is filled in afterwards.

Feeling certain is not the same as being right

The tricky part is that these fast impressions feel very convincing. People also tend to agree with each other: give ten people the same photo and they often point to the same person as trustworthy, or not. But agreement is not the same as being right. The fact that we all read the same thing into a face does not mean that thing is actually there.

How heavily we lean on these judgments shows in Todorov and colleagues' research on elections. Based only on a quick look at candidates' faces, without knowing who they were, people could predict above chance who would win an election. Not because a face reveals whether someone is a good administrator, but because we let our voting be nudged by an impression formed in a fraction of a second. If a face can colour something like an election, it will certainly colour your judgment of a possible date or friend.

One photo is not the person

There is another problem, and it is often forgotten. A photo is not a person but a moment. One angle, one light, one second, one glance. Change the photo and you change the impression.

Researchers once gave people a stack of photos of only two individuals and asked them to sort the images by likeness. Instead of two piles, most people made many more. Different photos of the same person simply looked like different people. So if you have never met someone, you are not judging that person, but the one accidental image that was taken of them.

Beautiful becomes good: the halo effect

There is also an old mechanism at play that psychologists call the halo effect. In classic research from 1972, people automatically attributed all sorts of good qualities to attractive individuals: kinder, more sociable, more successful. Not because there is evidence for it, but because in our minds beautiful almost automatically becomes good.

This means an attractive photo does not only decide whether you like the look of someone, it also unconsciously colours your estimate of their character. And the other way around: someone who stands out less in an image gets credited, for no reason, with less warm qualities. That way you exclude people before you know anything about them.

What a photo does not show

Set against that what you actually want to know about someone. Whether they make you laugh. How they listen. Whether you enjoy the same things. How you feel in their company. Whether a conversation flows or keeps stalling.

That is exactly what a photo cannot show, and at the same time what decides whether you really click. The things that make an encounter worthwhile live in the conversation, not in the face.

What a photo shows	What actually counts
How someone looks in one moment	How it feels to talk with someone
Your judgment in a tenth of a second	Whether you enjoy the same things
An assumed character (halo effect)	Who someone really is
One angle, one light, one glance	Humour, warmth, attention

What Mittir chooses

That is why Mittir turns it around. Your photo stays hidden at the start. You get to know someone first through interests and a conversation, and you share your photo only when you are both ready. That way an encounter begins with who someone is, not with a snap judgment about a face.

That is not a trick, it is the whole idea. By leaving the photo out for a while, you give the conversation the room it deserves, and you give yourself the chance to meet someone you would otherwise have swiped away in half a second. Read more about why Mittir exists, or download Mittir and see who is near you.

Frequently asked questions

How quickly do we form a first impression from a photo?

In about a tenth of a second. Research by Willis and Todorov showed that one hundred milliseconds is enough to form a judgment about trustworthiness, competence and attractiveness. More time barely changes that judgment, it mainly makes you more sure of it.

If everyone reads the same thing into a face, does that not make the judgment right?

Not necessarily. People often agree about what a face signals, but agreement is not the same as accuracy. The fact that we all read the same thing into a face does not mean that trait is really there.

Why does one photo say so little?

Because a photo is a moment, not a person. Different photos of the same face lead to very different impressions, to the point where people mistake photos of the same person for different people. So you are not judging someone, but that one accidental image.

What is the halo effect?

The tendency to automatically attribute more positive qualities to attractive people, such as kinder or more sociable, without any evidence for it. Beautiful almost automatically becomes good in our minds, and that unconsciously colours how we estimate someone's character.

Does this mean looks do not matter at all?

No, looks can play a part. The point is that they should not come first. If a photo is the first and only thing you judge on, you exclude people before you know who they are. Let the conversation come first, and a photo falls into place later.

Is Mittir a dating app?

No. Mittir is made for meeting new people and friends and doing things together. Your photo stays hidden at first, so you get to know someone for who they are. Whether more comes of it is up to the two of you.

Sources

• Willis, J. & Todorov, A., First Impressions: Making Up Your Mind After a 100-Ms Exposure to a Face, Psychological Science (2006)
• Jenkins, R. et al., Variability in photos of the same face, Cognition (2011)
• Todorov, A. et al., Inferences of Competence from Faces Predict Election Outcomes, Science (2005)
• Dion, K., Berscheid, E. & Walster, E., What is beautiful is good, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (1972)