Impression formation : the right goal is the right way to go

Abstract

People form impressions during their interactions with others. Inaccurate impressions can lead to serious consequences, such as prejudice. Our review paper studies the effect of goals on people’s formation of impressions. Goals determine the impressions that are formed as they affect how people process and interpret information about the target. Specifically, we look at the influences of three goals; the goal of forming accurate impression, the goal of being self-relevant, and the goal of affiliation. We contend that inaccurate impressions results from prioritizing the latter two goals, which distracts people from accurately perceiving the target. By consciously prioritizing the goal to form accurate impressions, people can perceive others more comprehensively and accurately. Accurate impression formation is important as it counters problems of negative stereotypes and Xenophobia. Suggestions on how the research on the relationship between goals and impression formation can be extended are also provided.