(I) During impression formation, we tend to pay special
attention to negative or potentially threatening
information. (II) When we come to form an overall
impression of the person, that negative information is
weighed more heavily. (III) That is, a negative trait
affects an impression more than a positive trait,
everything else being equal. (IV) For example, in one
study, students rated 97 percent of their professors in
college favorably despite all the mixed experiences
they have had in their college classes. (V) The main
explanation for this fact is that negative traits are more
unusual and therefore more distinctive