Should you trust your first impression? - Peter Mende-Siedlecki

Translator: Hafizh Alfarisi Reviewer: aditya prayogi

Imagine you're at a football game

Bayangkan dirimu berada di pertandingan sepak bola

when this obnoxious guy sits next to you.

dan ada pria menjengkelkan duduk di sebelahmu.

He's loud,

he spills his drink on you,

Dia berisik, menumpahkan minuman padamu, dan menghina timmu.

and he makes fun of your team.

Days later, you're walking in the park

Hari berikutnya, kau berjalan di taman lalu hujan mendadak turun.

when suddenly it starts to pour rain.

Who should show up at your side

Siapa yang muncul di dekatmu dan menawarkan payung?

to offer you an umbrella?

The same guy from the football game.

Pria dari pertandingan bola itu lagi.

Do you change your mind about him

Apa pendapatmu tentangnya berubah setelah pertemuan kedua ini,

based on this second encounter,

or do you go with your first impression

atau kau memilih kesan pertamamu dan menjauhinya?

and write him off?

Research in social psychology suggests

Riset psikologi sosial menyebutkan

that we're quick to form lasting impressions of others

kita cepat mengukuh kesan awet orang lain sesuai perilaku mereka.

based on their behaviors.

Ini mudah dilakukan karena hanya membutuhkan sedikit usaha,

We manage to do this with little effort,

inferring stable character traits

Kita menerka sifat asli seseorang dari satu perilaku,

from a single behavior,

like a harsh word

seperti kata kasar atau sikap kaku.

or a clumsy step.

Using our impressions as guides,

menggunakan kesan kita sebagai acuan, kita bisa tepat menebak

we can accurately predict

how people are going to behave in the future.

bagaimana orang-orang bersikap nantinya.

Karena sadar pria dari pertandingan sepak bola kemarin

Armed with the knowledge

the guy from the football game

was a jerk the first time you met him,

adalah si Resek, kau mungkin mengira hal sama akan terjadi.

you might expect more of the same down the road.

If so, you might choose to avoid him

Jika iya, kau mungkin menghindarinya dipertemuan berikutnya.

the next time you see him.

That said, we can change our impressions

Sebaliknya, kita bisa ubah kesan diri kita menjadi petunjuk baru.

in light of new information.

Behavioral researchers have identified

Para peneliti telah mengenali pola tetap

consistent patterns that seem to guide

yang tampak menuntun proses pembaruan kesan ini.

this process of impression updating.

On one hand, learning very negative,

Di sisi lain, mempelajari informasi sangat buruk dan tak etis akan seseorang

highly immoral information about someone

typically has a stronger impact

lazimnya memberi dampak lebih kuat

than learning very positive, highly moral information.

daripada mempelajari informasi sangat baik dan bermoral.

So, unfortunately for our new friend

Sayangnya bagi teman baru kita dari pertandingan sepak bola,

from the football game,

his bad behavior at the game

perilaku buruknya pertandingan mungkin mengungguli perilaku baiknya di taman.

might outweigh his good behavior at the park.

Research suggests that this bias occurs

Penelitian menyebut bias ini terjadi karena perilaku tak etis

because immoral behaviors are more diagnostic,

lebih menentukan, atau menyingkap, sifat asli seseorang.

or revealing,

of a person's true character.

Okay, so by this logic,

Lewat logika ini, buruk selalu lebih kuat dari baik dalam hal pembaruan.

bad is always stronger than good

when it comes to updating.

Well, not necessarily.

Tidak selalu begitu.

Certain types of learning don't seem to lead

Tipe pengamatan tertentu tak terlihat mengarah ke semacam bias buruk ini.

to this sort of negativity bias.

When learning about another person's abilities and competencies,

Saat mengamati kemampuan dan kompetensi orang lain misalnya,

for instance,

this bias flips.

bias itu berbalik.

It's actually the positive information

Rupanya informasi positiflah yang beratnya lebih besar.

that gets weighted more heavily.

Let's go back to that football game.

Kembali ke pertandingan sepak bola.

If a player scores a goal,

Jika pemain mencetak gol, dampaknya pun lebih kuat

it ultimately has a stronger impact

on your impression of their skills

pada kesanmu atas kemampuannya ketimbang saat dia meleset.

than if they miss the net.

The two sides of the updating story

Dua sisi pembaruan cerita itu sebenarnya cukup konsisten.

are ultimately quite consistent.

Overall, behaviors that are perceived

Keseluruhannya, perilaku yang dianggap jarang muncul

as being less frequent are also the ones

juga cenderung dinilai lebih berat saat membentuk dan memperbarui kesan,

that people tend to weigh more heavily

when forming and updating impressions,

highly immoral actions

tindakan sangat tak etis, dan tindakan sangat memuaskan.

and highly competent actions.

So, what's happening at the level of the brain

Jadi, apa yang terjadi di tingkatan otak saat kita memperbarui kesan kita?

when we're updating our impressions?

Using fMRI,

Dengan fMRI, atau pencitraan resonansi magnetik fungsional,

or functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging,

researchers have identified

peneliti telah menentukan perpanjangan jaringan dari bagian otak

an extended network of brain regions

that respond to new information

yang menanggapi informasi baru yang berlainan dengan kesan pertama.

that's inconsistent with initial impressions.

These include areas typically associated

Bagian ini meliputi area yang biasa terhubung

with social cognition,

dengan pemahaman sosial, perhatian, dan kendali kognitif.

attention,

and cognitive control.

Moreover, when updating impressions

Selain itu, saat memperbarui kesan berdasarkan perilaku seseorang,

based on people's behaviors,

activity in the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex

aktivitas korteks prefrontal ventrolateral dan sulkus temporal superior

and the superior temporal sulcus

correlates with perceptions

berkaitan dengan persepsi seberapa sering perilaku itu muncul sehari-hari.

of how frequently those behaviors occur in daily life.

In other words, the brain seems to be tracking

Dengan kata lain, otak tampaknya melacak statistik rendah dalam ciri-ciri perilaku

low-level, statistical properties of behavior

in order to make complex decisions

untuk membuat keputusan rumit akan sifat orang lain.

regarding other people's character.

It needs to decide

Otak perlu memutuskan apakah ini perilaku orang yang umum atau tidak biasa?

is this person's behavior typical

or is it out of the ordinary?

In the situation

Dalam hal penggemar sepak bola menyebalkan yang jadi orang baik,

with the obnoxious-football-fan-turned-good-samaritan,

your brain says,

otakmu berkata, “Dari pengalamanku,

"Well, in my experience,

pretty much anyone would lend someone their umbrella,

hampir semua orang akan meminjamkan payung.”

but the way this guy acted at the football game,

“Tapi sikap pria ini di pertandingan bola, itu tak biasa.”

that was unusual."

And so, you decide to go with your first impression.

Dan karenanya, kau lebih mengacu pada kesan pertamamu.

There's a good moral in this data:

Ada pesan baik dalam data ini.

your brain, and by extension you,

Otakmu, dan perpanjangan dirimu, mungkin lebih peduli

might care more about

the very negative, immoral things

hal sangat buruk dan tak etis yang pernah dilakukan orang lain

another person has done

compared to the very positive, moral things,

daripada hal sangat baik dan etis.

but it's a direct result

Namun, ini adalah hasil langsung langkanya perbandingan perilaku buruk itu.

of the comparative rarity of those bad behaviors.

We're more used to people being basically good,

Kita lebih terbiasa dengan orang yang umumnya baik,

like taking time to help a stranger in need.

seperti rela menolong orang asing yang kesusahan.

In this context, bad might be stronger than good,

Dalam konteks ini, buruk mungkin lebih mengena dari baik,

but only because good is more plentiful.

tapi hanya karena baik lebih banyak.

Think about the last time you judged someone

Ingat terakhir kali kau menilai seseorang sesuai perilakunya,

based on their behavior,

especially a time when you really feel

terutama saat kau merasa ingin mengubah pendapatmu akan seseorang.

like you changed your mind about someone.

Was the behavior that caused you

Apakah perilaku yang menyebabkan pembaruan kesanmu

to update your impression

something you'd expect anyone to do,

adalah hal yang kau duga akan dilakukan orang

or was it something totally out of the ordinary?

atau hal itu di luar kebiasaannya?