The process of impression formation consists of the following three sub-processes :

1. Selection: we take into account only some bits of information about the target person.
2. Organisation: the selected information is combined in a systematic way.
3. Inference: we draw a conclusion about what kind of person the target is.

Some specific qualities influence impression formation more than other traits do.

Factors affecting the kind of impression formation

1. Primacy effect:(First impressions are the lasting impressions).First has a stronger effect than the information presented at the end. This is called the primacy effect.
2. Recency effect: if the perceiver pays attention to all the information, and not merely to the first information, whatever information comes at the end may have a stronger influence. This is known as the recency effect.
3. Halo effect: We have a tendency to think that a target person who has one set of positive qualities must also be having other specific positive qualities that are associated with the first set. This is known as the halo effect. For example, if we are told that a person is ‘tidy’ and ‘punctual’, we are likely to think that this person must also be ‘hard-working’.