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The halo effect is a cognitive bias where a positive quality about a person leads to the attribution of other good qualities. It can lead to unfair treatment and is a problem in recruiting. The effect is deep and pervasive, affecting judgments in all areas of life.
Halo effects are psychological tendencies studied in detail by the field of cognitive psychology. They occur when a good quality about a person, say, being a fan of the same sports team, leads us to attribute good qualities to them in other areas. In a school setting, students who get an “A” on the first homework assignment they turn in could end up being unduly slowed down by a teacher on further grades, because the teacher expects them to continue producing A-quality work. L The converse of the halo effect is the “devil effect” or the “horn effect,” where one instance of poor performance causes the victim to be unfairly negatively blamed in the future.
The halo effect is a cognitive bias, one among hundreds, a “mental shortcut” or even “cognitive illusion” that causes people to behave in ways that an impartial observer considers empirically and systematically unjustified. Because our entire lives are permeated by these cognitive judgments, studies of biases like the halo effect boil down to the very fabric that underpins our society.
In one famous study, commanding officers were asked to rate their soldiers on a number of traits, both good and bad. Analysis of the results showed that positive and negative qualities were strongly correlated with each other. This shows that people tend to paint others with a broad brush: “good in general” or “bad in general”. These attributions are made early on, sometimes within the first few seconds of meeting someone (hence the piece of wisdom that says first impressions are so important), creating anchoring effects days, weeks, or even years after the fact. Halo effects are a serious problem in recruiting for human resources departments, where studies have shown time and time again that past behavior is a better way to predict future behavior than interviewer impressions.
In professional auto shows, halo-shaped cars are super cute cars that are put on display so that the awe aroused by them seeps into the entire show. We see this effect not only in auto shows but in organizations, museums, universities, governments and so on. The province of Alberta, Canada, has even gone so far as to pay top scientists US$20 million (USD) to move to their area and carry out research there for the next 10 years. Clearly not all of these scientists will produce results for the province worth more than $20 million dollars, so the only alternative explanation is that government officials are trying to produce a halo effect around their province and city, to attract young researchers promising.
The halo effect is deep and omnipresent. Each of us probably falls prey to it every day. Mindfully examine your thought processes and you will see that halo effects permeate virtually every judgment you make, including your judgment of the quality of this website and the humble author of this article.
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