Qu'est-ce que Primacy Effect ?

Definition

The primacy effect is the cognitive tendency for information encountered first to have an outsized influence on subsequent judgements. In recruitment, this means that a candidate's performance in the opening minutes of an interview — or the first lines of their CV — disproportionately shapes the evaluator's overall impression, regardless of what follows.

In practice

Research in cognitive psychology demonstrates that people encode the first items in a sequence more deeply into long-term memory. In an interview, a strong opening answer creates a positive frame through which subsequent weaker answers are interpreted charitably. A stumbling opening answer — even if due to nerves — may create a negative frame that persists despite strong subsequent performance. For CV screening, the order in which candidates are reviewed can affect ratings: the same CV reviewed first in a pile may score differently than when reviewed after several strong profiles. Randomising the order of candidate review and scoring each section of an interview immediately (rather than waiting until the end) both help mitigate primacy effects.

Key takeaway

A great opening matters — but evaluators must consciously resist letting it colour everything that follows. Structured, dimension-by-dimension scoring is the most reliable antidote.