What is the HALO EFFECT in psychology?

Do you know what a halo is? Halos are optical phenomena that appear around a light source, actually localized, but thanks we see the halo extend beyond its field, thus giving the impression that the light illuminates an area larger than the reality. The same happens in psychology: the halo effect is a cognitive bias whereby the perception of a trait is influenced by perception of one or more features of the individual or of the object (for example, he is beautiful and nice, so he is also intelligent, good, honest, etc.). With this article on Psychology-Online we will discover what is the halo effect in psychology.

Index

1. What is the halo effect
2. How the Halo effect works
3. Advantages and disadvantages of the halo effect
4. Examples of halo effect in everyday life
5. How to avoid the halo effect

The halo effect is predominant today, but it is not a new social phenomenon: it is a cognitive bias first identified by Edward L. Thorndike (1920) within the framework of his studies on the errors of psychological evaluations in the military field. In essence, the evaluation of a single item affects the evaluation of other items, which influences the final judgment. That is, the halo effect is

The halo effect occurs when the different characteristics are correlated with each other, without any verification. Typical is the case of attributing additional qualities to subjects when in reality they are not present: there is often a tendency to combine the concepts of beautiful and / or good. This effect occurs most often when you are in a hurry or have little direct information needed for evaluation and are searching in memory.

The concept of the halo effect has been widely studied and theorized in psychology; However, the effects of this phenomenon have been observed and analyzed in more recent times also in other sectors such as, for example, human resources and marketing:

• In human resources, the halo effect could be the tendency to be influenced by only one of the personal or professional characteristics of the person evaluated in a selection process. This single characteristic, whether positive or negative, prevails over all the others to the point of being decisive in the final judgment. For example, the hiring manager assesses a characteristic of the person in a and then extend the judgment of that characteristic to the judgment of all the others.
• The halo effect is fascinating and well known in the business world. In particular, it can affect the overall judgment that is made about an object and, therefore, it can have effects on the perception that consumers have of products and brands. For example, there is a particular halo effect in commerce called "marketing reputation." What does it consist of? We will see it with one of the examples of the halo effect in marketing. A book that printed the "Harvard Classics" logo on the cover can be twice the price of an identical book that does not have the same endorsement. Indeed, there are different situations in which it is possible to verify the influence of the halo effect in which companies are able to benefit from this phenomenon.

The halo effect is the mechanism by which there is a tendency to attribute presumptive characteristics, based on observed characteristics. It is a metaphor that indicates how the positive impression one has of someone, in relation to a certain area (for example, physical appearance and therefore beauty), tends to extend or condition the opinion of the same individual or object in relation to other unrelated areas (such as personality or competence in the job).

Halo effects are a special case of errors of judgment in the formation of impressions, very powerful and capable of profoundly invalidating the judgment capacity of people who evaluate directly and unconsciously.

Why does the halo effect occur? This process of mental categorization is determined by the human need to classify reality in an orderly and psychologically economical way: in a barely known person there is very little information available to be able to formulate a reliable judgment; however, you also have to rely on few impressions to form a meaningful image of your personality as quickly as possible, and therefore behave appropriately. In general, this process of evaluating the other person is carried out in a totally unconscious way, causing the halo effect has a huge influence on the interaction between human beings, making it difficult for us to judge objectively.

Anyone who knows the processes that take place in the delicate phase of mutual knowledge, easily influenced by the halo effect, has a clear advantage: there are many American studies on lower guilt rates for aesthetically pleasing convicts, compared to the not handsome convicts who presented the same charges.

Obviously, the mechanism also works in a negative sense: for example, in the case of the psychological profession, we are in danger, being in the presence of a patient with mental disorders, allow our minds to be clouded by the theoretical notions that we have about these pathologies and about the consequences that we assume these have in the life of the subject, to attribute a series of alleged deficiencies, treating it accordingly, without verifying the real scope of the limits of that patient. The halo effect runs the risk of stick labels on people's foreheads indelible, time-resistant stereotypes and negative halos, which extend throughout his life.

The application of the halo effect can be explained with concrete examples, according to the studies:

• The most attractive people are automatically considered smarter, although there is no relationship between looks and intelligence.
• The fattest people are considered, among other things, thinner, but there is no relationship here either.
• Teachers regard the most attractive students as more competent.
• The friendly driver is automatically considered intelligent.

This mental process permeates every aspect of our life: it can happen at work, with a new colleague, it can happen on the street, it can happen at any time. It is so powerful that it influences our judgment without us even realizing it.

Think of a person you don't know much about, but who can be aesthetically very beautiful, like a movie character. Whether it is Antonio Banderas, Penélope Cruz, Javier Bardem or others, in general if you ask someone what they think of that famous person, will tend, by halo effect, to list positive characteristics that you don't really know. If a person is considered "beautiful", in effect, it is likely that he is also perceived as intelligent, bright, friendly, and so on. even though I don't know it in depth or at all.

In this article you will find all the types of cognitive biases.

Now our question is: how can we avoid the halo effect? Well, it is enough to reflect for a moment, it is enough not to stay with the first judgment, in the first evaluation. We have to try to go further and find out who is behind the "dress". Let's not forget that, very often, the suit does not quite make the man (although sometimes, it does).

It is essential, therefore, to avoid immediate and hasty judgments, based solely on external impressions, but, on the contrary, collect as much information as possible on the history of each of our evaluation objects, to always allow them to be different from the opinion that is held until then. The halo effect holds until we find clear evidence to the contrary!

This article is merely informative, in Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.

If you want to read more articles similar to What is the halo effect in psychology?, we recommend that you enter our category of Cognitive psychology.

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