Forming Impressions of People: The Problem of Accuracy

Abstract

This chapter is concerned with some of the factors involved in forming impressions of other people — judging for example how trustworthy or emotionally stable they are, or how well they can cope on their own — and, in particular, with making such judgements more accurately. Social workers are professional judges of people in this sense, and any increase in accuracy of understanding others and in predicting their behaviour is likely to be both more effective and more just.