Instead of reading, you could also just listen:
First impressions count massively
It takes 100 milliseconds to form a first opinion about a stranger’s attractiveness, likeability, trustworthiness, competence, and aggressiveness. We judge others by appearance within the first 100ms! This is merely as long as the blink of an eye, but this is all the time you have!
During the next 7–10 seconds, we finalize our judgment whether the person in front of us is either a potential friend or an enemy.
This “first impression” however is not the very first emotional response to the appointment.
As mentioned before, the child and parent come already with a base note of feelings. The fear or curiosity that have been triggered before they even arrive at the hospital. For more about these emotions, see the related blog entries via the hyperlinks.
And then finally they meet the doctor.
How do first impressions count?
First impressions count!
Our brain is hard-wired to see the other person initially as indifferent.
We wait until we have enough data to decide otherwise. If we receive a negative impression or inconclusive signs, our brain tells us that it is safer to regard the stranger as an enemy because caution protects us from being eaten. After a very short amount of time (7–10 seconds), we stick to our very first judgment. We then only alter the implicit aspects of the call we made when significant discrepancies are presented. The new information needs to be forceful, to make us reassess our judgment.
Why do we stick to first impressions?
The world is a dangerous place. We could get eaten, if we do not keep yourselves out of harms way.
We need to come quickly to our strategy for safety in this particular situation. Any change of judgment costs energy. We do not like that because our brains are notoriously lazy (or efficient).
We accept that our first conclusion might be wrong, but second guessing is just too exhausting.
So: First impressions count.
The first impression counts in the healthcare setting
For any effective interaction between doctor and patient, it is way easier, if we succeed, to create an immediate impression of safety and trustworthiness.
Otherwise, it is an uphill battle to convince a patient later, who is already frightened of us, to change their mind.
The frightened child would need to reassess their judgment and to acknowledge that we are actually do not mean any harm. If the paediatric patient has made up their mind, it will become very difficult to alter this opinion.
In a nutshell:
First impressions count. The investment into an optimal first impression pays high dividend throughout the consultation.
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