Abstract
Over the past few decades, two-factor models of social cognition have emerged as a dominant
framework for understanding impression development. These models suggest that two
dimensions – warmth and competence – are key in shaping our cognitive, emotional, and
behavioral reactions toward social targets. More recently, research has jettisoned the warmth
dimension, distinguishing instead between sociability (e.g., friendliness and likeability) and
morality (e.g., honesty and trustworthiness) and showing that morality is far more important than
sociability (and competence) in predicting the evaluations we make of individuals and groups.
Presenting research from our laboratories, we show that moral categories are central at all stages
of impression development, from implicit assumptions, to information gathering and to final
evaluations. Moreover, moral trait information has a dominant role in predicting people’s
behavioral reactions toward social targets. We also show that morality dominates impression
development, because it is closely linked to the essential judgment of whether another party’s
intentions are beneficial or harmful. Thus, our research informs a new framework for
understanding person and group perception: the Moral Primacy Model (MPM) of impression
development. We conclude by discussing how the MPM relates to classic and emerging models
of social cognition and by outlining a trajectory for future research.