No matter where you go in life, you will find people that are attractive. Although everyone has their own likes and dislikes, there are people that are seen as beautiful to almost everyone. When we are first introduced to people, physical appearance is one of the first impressions that we get. With that being said, our looks do matter in a certain way.
The primacy effect is when we tend to be influenced by information that is presented first, such as physical appearance. (Schneider, Gruman, & Coutts, 2012) With physical appearance being important, some would wonder where this would matter. The truth is, it matters in almost every situation that humans are faced with.
One example of this would be an interview. This is because when you go to an interview, you are normally going to be meeting people for the first time. Although our hopes would be that those who interview us would only remember the knowledge that we have and what we can bring to the company, our physical appearance is also remembered. Studies have shown that first impressions dominate the views in an interview. (Shaheen, 2010) This is why good looking people are often remembered. When people are good looking they have good first impressions, but they are seen to be better people in general. (Schneider, Gruman, & Coutts, 2012) This could cause unfairness in the interview because although a person may be beautiful, that does not mean they are qualified to work at a job.
Unfortunately, not everyone is thought of as being attractive. This causes a disadvantage to them because they may not have opportunities in life that others will have. In some cases, these people will not even try to complete goals (such as working at a certain job) because they are afraid of what others will think of them.
In society, many people who are in a relationship may also be affected by the primacy effect because they could be stereotyped by their significant other. I know many people that have failed relationships because their significant other comments on their attractive friends. This is unfair to them because although someone may be attractive, they could also have a conceded personality which is not always seen as attractive. To get through this, they need to realize that first impressions do matter to an extent. With that being said, you may not be the most attractive person but other qualities matter in the long run.
References
Schneider, F. W., Gruman, J. A., & Coutts, L. M. (2005). Applied social psychology: Understanding and addressing social and practical problems. SAGE Publications. Kindle Edition.
Shaheen, J. (2010) The Recency and Primacy Effects in the Talent Acquisition Process. Retrieved from http://www.ere.net/2010/02/25/the-recency-and-primacy-effe cts-in-the-talent-acquisition-process/