Do you know what a halo is? Halos are optical phenomena that appear around a light source, actually localized, but thanks to the halo we see extending beyond its field, thus giving the impression that the light illuminates a larger area than reality. The same thing happens in psychology: the halo effect is a cognitive bias by which the perception of a trait is influenced by the perception of one or more traits of the individual or object (for example, it is beautiful and nice, so it is also intelligent, good, honest, etc.). With this Psychology-Online article we will discover what is the halo effect in psychology.
What is the halo effect
The halo effect is predominant today, but it is not a new social phenomenon: it is a cognitive bias identified for the first time by Edward L. Thorndike (1920) in the framework of his studies on the errors of psychological evaluations in the military field. . In essence, the evaluation of a single element affects the evaluation of other elements, which influences the final judgment. That is, the halo effect is make a global judgment from a partial first impression.
The halo effect occurs when different characteristics correlate with each other, without any verification. Typical is the case of attributing additional qualities to subjects when they are not actually present: there is often a tendency to combine the concepts of beautiful and/or good. This effect occurs more frequently when you are in a hurry or have little direct information necessary for the evaluation and search 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 being 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 recruiter evaluates one characteristic of the person in a specific way and then extends 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 made about an object and, therefore, 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 without the same backing. Indeed, there are different situations in which it is possible to verify the influence of the halo effect in which companies manage to benefit from this phenomenon.
How the Halo effect works
The halo effect is the mechanism by which there is a tendency to attribute presumed characteristics, on the basis of 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 spread or condition the opinion one has of that person. individual or object in relation to other unrelated areas (such as personality or job competence).
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 mental categorization process 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, one must also rely on few impressions to form a meaningful image of the personality as quickly as possible, and therefore behave appropriately. In general, this process of evaluating the other person is carried out completely unconsciously, making the halo effect have an enormous influence on the interaction between human beings, making it difficult for us to judge objectively.
Advantages and disadvantages of the halo effect
Anyone who knows the processes that develop in the delicate phase of mutual knowledge, easily influenced by the halo effect, has a clear advantage: there are numerous American studies on the rates of attribution of lesser guilt to aesthetically pleasing convictscompared to non-handsome convicts facing the same charges.
Obviously, the mechanism also works in a negative sense: for example, in the case of the psychological profession, we run the risk, when being in the presence of a patient with psychological disorders, of allowing our minds to be clouded by the theoretical notions that we have about these pathologies and about the consequences that we assume these have on the subject’s life, to attribute a series of presumed deficiencies, treating them accordingly, without verifying the real extent of that patient’s limits. The halo effect risks stick labels on people’s foreheads indelible stereotypes, resistant over time and negative halos, which extend to their entire life.
Examples of halo effect in everyday life
The application of the halo effect can be explained with concrete examples, according to the studies:
- More attractive people are automatically considered more intelligent, although there is no relationship between appearance and intelligence.
- Fatter people are considered, among other things, thinner, but there is no relationship here either.
- Teachers consider more attractive students to be more competent.
- The friendly driver is automatically considered intelligent.
This mental process permeates all aspects of our lives: 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 realizing it.
Think of a person you don’t know much about, but who may be aesthetically very beautiful, like a movie character. Whether it is Antonio Banderas, Penelope Cruz, Javier Bardem or others, in general if you ask someone what they think of that famous person, will tend, due to the halo effect, to list positive characteristics that he doesn’t really know. If a person is considered “beautiful”, in fact, it is likely that he or she will also be perceived as intelligent, bright, nice, etc. even if he doesn’t know her in depth or at all.
In this article you will find all the.
How to avoid the halo effect
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 stop at 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 absolutely 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 about the history of each of our objects of evaluation, to allow them to always be different from the opinion held until then. The halo effect holds until we find clear evidence to the contrary!
This article is merely informative, at 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.
Bibliography
- Cocozza, A. (2006). Direzione risorse umane. Politics and instruments for the organization and management of labor relations. Milan: Franco Angeli.
- Cuminetti, A. (2013) Effetto Alone: cos’è e come può essere sfruttato. Recovered from: https://www.psicosocial.it/effetto-alone-la-mente-e-un-mistero/
- Di Virgilio, M. (2000). Disturbi psychici. Nevrosi, psychosis and depressioni: pathology and intervention modality. Milan: Franco Angeli.
- Fornei, G. (2020). Distinguersi per non Morire! Lecce: Youcanprint.
- Gabassi, P. G. (2007). Psychology of labor in organization. Milan: Franco Angeli.
- Inside Marketing (2019). Effect alone. Retrieved from: https://www.insidemarketing.it/glossario/definizione/effetto-alone/
- IONOS (2020). Effect alone: the first impression and the last step in marketing. Retrieved from: https://www.ionos.it/digitalguide/online-marketing/vendere-online/effetto-alone-nel-marketing/
- Montanari, L. (2001). The parole of the body. Technique and language for animation into corporeal language. Rome: Paoline.
- Vigutto, P. (2018). Organize the selection at PMI. Indications and instruments to value and candidates, comporre the design and govern the process. Milan: Franco Angeli.