Later-encountered individuals are described more negatively

What is it about?

When people sequentially encounter others, they tend to pay attention to distinct attributes that differentiate a given individual from earlier-encountered individuals. This differentiation principle implies that serial person descriptions become increasingly negative because distinct attributes tend to be negative in the external information ecology while redundant attributes tend to be positive. In other words, while you would describe the first few Tinder profile pictures you encounter rather positively, your descriptions should become increasingly negative as you swipe through the ecology of potential dating partners.

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Photo by Levi Jones on Unsplash

Photo by Levi Jones on Unsplash

Why is it important?

Job interviews and other performance evaluations such as online dating are typically sequential events in which perceivers are confronted with several target persons in a given sequential order. If descriptions of later-encountered targets do indeed become more negative, this could trickle down to an early bird advantage. For example, consider a hiring committee that discusses the impression that each candidate made after their interview. The first few candidates may be described in rather positive terms, while the differentiation principle will force descriptions of subsequent candidates to become more and more negative.

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