A psychology study by Liad Uziel at Bar-Ilan University, published in Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, suggests a surprising way some people feel calmer in social situations. The research found that people who lean toward a belief that first impressions stay fairly stable often feel less mentally worn out during social interaction.
In the paper, Uziel tested this idea across a survey and several experiments. The key result was simple to grasp: when socially anxious people were guided to think that impressions do not change easily, they tended to perform better and feel less strain. Here is the study.
Why The Researchers Focused On First Impressions
For many people, a conversation has two tracks. One track is the topic, like school, work, or weekend plans. The other track is the silent question, “How am I coming across?” That second track can feel loud for people with social anxiety, especially in new groups or high-pressure moments.
Social anxiety often involves worries about being judged. People may replay a small moment, like a pause or a shaky voice. They may picture it shaping how others see them for the rest of the evening. Over time, this kind of thinking can drain energy and make social life feel like work.
One reason Uziel focused on impressions is that they sit at the center of these worries. If someone believes other people constantly update their opinions, then every glance and every sentence can feel important. A person might feel pressure to steer the conversation and manage facial expressions. That effort adds to public image management.
Here is the twist the study explores. If someone believes impressions stay stable, then a single awkward moment may feel less powerful. Socially anxious people may spend less energy monitoring themselves. That change in effort was a major theme across the studies.
How The Study Tested “Fixed” Versus “Growth” Views Of Impressions
The research used a simple mindset idea. A “growth” view of impression formation suggests that opinions shift easily as new information appears. A “fixed” view suggests that early impressions tend to stick and change slowly.
Instead of focusing on intelligence or talent, this work focused on social impressions. Uziel called it a fixed mindset about impression formation when people leaned toward the idea that others do not revise their opinions quickly. The other condition encouraged a growth mindset about impression formation, meaning impressions can be updated fast and often.
In one part of the research, people simply reported their natural beliefs. In other parts, the study tried to shift beliefs for a short time. Participants read statements supporting one mindset and agreed with them. Some participants also wrote about personal memories that fit the assigned view.
Then came the social tasks. One experiment asked students to write a short self-introduction. Another asked them to speak to a camera for two minutes. Across tasks, trained observers rated signs of anxiety and overall social quality. This design let the study compare self-feelings with visible behavior.
Survey Results Linked Social Anxiety To Feeling Drained, With One Key Exception
The first study was a survey of 182 British adults who completed measures online. They reported their level of social anxiety and shared beliefs about whether impressions are stable or changeable. They also rated how tiring it feels to manage how they appear to other people.
As expected, people with higher social anxiety also tended to report more exhaustion around social situations. They described social life as mentally demanding. That pattern fits everyday experience. When you spend energy tracking every reaction, you can end a conversation feeling depleted.
But one belief stood out. People who leaned toward a more stable view of impressions reported less of that draining feeling. The link between social anxiety and exhaustion looked weaker for them. In plain terms, the stable-impression belief seemed to soften the load.
This part of the work did not prove cause and effect. Surveys show patterns and many factors can shape them. Still, the results set up a clear question for experiments: if you nudge someone toward a stable-impression belief, does their social experience change in a measurable way?
Lab Tasks Suggest A Fixed Impression Mindset Can Improve Social Performance
Next came experiments with Israeli college students. In the first experiment, 200 students were randomly assigned to a fixed or growth mindset condition about impression formation. The mindset shift came from reading and endorsing statements that supported one view.
After that, participants wrote a self-introduction that they believed they might share with someone else. Independent judges rated these introductions for traits like friendliness and dominance and for signs of anxiety. The pattern was striking: higher social anxiety predicted a weaker impression in the growth mindset condition. In the fixed mindset condition, the gap shrank.
Then the research raised the stakes. A second experiment tested 155 students using a more stressful setup. Participants completed the same mindset manipulation, then recorded a two-minute talk to a video camera. Many people find cameras uncomfortable, so this served as a pressure test.
Two trained observers watched the recordings and rated behaviors such as eye contact and vocal clarity. These objective raters saw a similar pattern. Social anxiety predicted poorer performance mainly when people were guided toward the changeable-impression view. Under the stable-impression view, socially anxious participants often came across more smoothly on the video self-presentation task.
A Short Follow-Up Found Differences In Everyday Social Experiences
Lab tasks matter and daily life matters even more. So Uziel ran a third experiment with 158 Israeli college students to see whether the mindset shift could carry into real interactions.
This time, participants completed the same basic mindset manipulation. They also did a writing task aimed at deepening it. They described a personal memory that supported the idea that impressions either stay stable or change readily, depending on their assigned condition.
Three days later, students reported on their recent daily social interactions. They rated how stressful and satisfying their conversations felt. Socially anxious students in the stable-impression condition tended to report better social experiences than those in the changeable-impression condition. The difference showed up over a short window and it matched the general direction seen in the lab tasks.
What The Findings Might Mean, Plus Limits To Keep In Mind
One helpful way to read these results is through mental effort. Socially anxious people often do extra monitoring. They watch their own behavior and try to predict the other person’s judgment. A stable-impression belief may reduce that constant scanning. That can lower cognitive load during the conversation.
It also points to an interesting idea about “helpful beliefs.” In many areas of life, people praise the idea that change is always possible. In this narrow social setting, the study suggests that stability can feel comforting. It can help someone focus on the moment rather than trying to control every outcome.
At the same time, the study does not say that a fixed view is best for every person or every context. Social life involves feedback, learning and growth. People do update their opinions in real relationships. The study focused on a specific kind of pressure, which is the pressure socially anxious people feel during evaluation.
Several limitations are worth keeping in mind. The participants were mostly college student samples and community adults and they were not selected from clinical treatment settings. The study also used short tasks and brief follow-ups, so it cannot answer how long effects might last.
Finally, the “mindset” interventions were brief. They acted more like a short mindset exercise than a long program. Future research could test different cultures, longer timelines and people with diagnosed social anxiety disorder. It could also explore when a stable-impression belief helps most, such as first dates, job interviews, or public speaking.