What is the halo effect?

The Halo effect is a form of cognitive bias in which an individual's fundamental impression of a person, business, brand, or product directly informs the individual's feelings about the entity in question. In most cases, the halo effect is an entirely subconscious phenomenon that colors a person's thoughts and attitudes without them even being aware of it. The halo effect can be equally influential in both positive and negative terms.

Historical Background

Psychologist Edward L. Thorndike first described the halo effect in 1920. The term arose from a military study Thorndike conducted on how superior officers evaluated new officers in training. To facilitate his study, Thorndike asked evaluators to rate each training officer regarding physique, intelligence, leadership, and personal character. He also asked the evaluators to focus on the one trait they were specifically rating during a given session and to disregard every other trait of each trainee they observed. When he analyzed the results, Thorndike noticed an intriguing and unlikely trend. A review of the evaluators' submissions revealed that the trainee ratings were far more closely correlated than would normally be expected. For example, one evaluator's intelligence ratings for almost 140 trainees correlated nearly identically to the physique, leadership, and character ratings of those same trainees. Realistically, the trainees' intelligence ratings should have correlated much more with their leadership and character ratings than their physical ratings, but Thorndike's study showed that this was not the case. Thorndike concluded that the phenomenon he observed was the result of an inherent cognitive bias that he called the halo effect. The evaluators' first impressions of each trainee—even including physical appearance—directly influenced the ratings.

Other early studies later confirmed Thorndike's hypothesis. Shortly after Thorndike first described the halo effect, F. B. Knight and R. H. Franzen conducted a similar study that involved rating teachers. Most notably, Knight and Franzen found that evaluators' ratings of teachers' voices closely correlated with ratings associated with intelligence and general merit. These results further proved the existence of the halo effect and demonstrated the extent of its impact.

Effects

The influence of the halo effect can be felt and observed in a wide variety of situations and circumstances. In classrooms, for example, the halo effect often leads teachers to believe that a well-behaved student is equally intelligent and interested regardless of what other evidence might suggest. In such instances, the halo effect is potentially problematic because it may lead teachers to make inaccurate conclusions about students and fail to properly address students' classroom needs.

The workplace is another environment in which the influence of the halo effect can be felt. Employers interviewing potential candidates for a job opening may find the halo effect clouds their judgment. When reviewing the qualifying attributes of a certain candidate, an employer may inadvertently allow one positive or negative characteristic to inform or overshadow the candidate's other attributes. This can lead the employer to form an inaccurate picture of the candidate regardless of how well suited the candidate actually is for the job.

One of the best known and most common examples of the halo effect is a phenomenon called the attractiveness stereotype. The attractiveness stereotype is an unintentional tendency to associate positive personal qualities with people who are physically attractive. In other words, people naturally tend to think that physically attractive individuals are more likely than others to be healthy and successful and to exhibit good behavior, higher moral standards, and greater social competence. On the other hand, the attractiveness stereotype also can be negative in nature, meaning that some may think of attractive people as less honest and more prone to vanity than others.

The halo effect impacts more than just one's ability to make accurate personal assessments of others, however. It also affects the way people think and feel about broader entities, such as companies or brands. Consumers' basic impressions of a certain company or brand—though they may yield little in the way of truly objective data—have a direct bearing on consumers' opinion of that entity. Many companies take advantage of this phenomenon by carefully crafting their public image to cultivate a positive reputation among consumers and thus generate increased sales.

Significance

The influence of the halo effect can have serious implications. Over time, the halo effect can significantly impair one's ability to make accurate assessments about other people and entities. If a person expects someone or something to have specific positive or negative qualities based only on a limited set of data, it may become easier for that person to subconsciously find the evidence they need to confirm those expectations. The halo effect only encourages people to make unjustified judgments based on realistically insufficient data. Fortunately, because it is normally a subconscious phenomenon, it is at least possible to offset or even entirely avoid the influence of the halo effect simply by remaining aware and making others aware of its existence.

Bibliography

Forgas, Joseph P., and Simon M. Laham. "Halo Effect." Encyclopedia of Social Psychology. Vol. 1. Eds. Roy F. Baumeister and Kathleen D. Vohs. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, 2007. 409–10. Print.

"The Halo Effect." Economist. Economist Newspaper Limited. 19 Oct. 2009. Web. 20 Jan. 2015. http://www.economist.com/node/14299211

Rasmussen, Kristin. "Halo Effect." Encyclopedia of Educational Psychology. Vol. 1. Ed. Neil J. Salkind and Kristin Rasmussen. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, 2008. 458–60. Print.

Young, I. Phillip. "Halo Effect." Encyclopedia of Educational Leadership and Administration. Vol. 1. Ed. Fenwick W. English. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Reference, 2006. 444–45. Print.