A study was conducted to examine the effects of information valence and extremity on information search during impression formation. One hundred and twenty undergraduates (half men, half women), formed a likability impression of a target person by searching appearance and trait information that varied in valence and extremity. Searches were shorter with negative vs positive information (negativity effect) and with extreme vs more neutral information (polarity effect). A participant sex x valence x extremity interaction indicated that men's information searches displayed the negativity effect only with extreme information, whereas women's searches displayed the effect regardless of information extremity. Results were discussed in terms of a risk-avoidance impression formation strategy.