The Halo Effect

The judgment error we all make at some point!

If people have certain traits that we rate highly such as attractiveness, we also tend to perceive them as being successful.

In simpler words, the halo effect is the judgment error that starts with accurate information, for example noticing that someone is attractive, and based on that information we wrongfully assume other positive things are also true despite not having evidence to that.

In a nutshell, the “halo effect” captures this when a person who is judged positively based on one aspect is automatically judged positively on several others without much evidence.

For instance, as a result of the halo effect, famous people are assumed to be smart and intelligent and general people tend to follow whatever they say.

Politicians, film and TV stars, sportspersons, celebrities & brand managers have learned to construct a halo effect and capitalize on their reputations.

This effect has been taught to us since kids from the quote “First impression is the last impression.”

To an extent it is valid but many criticize it because not everyone is built the same and has excellent personality traits. It is not necessary that a knowledgeable person is a good speaker too.

Developing a bias based on their first impression has its harmful effects too but it's something that we are inbuilt with and can't really fight against it.

But we can always try to make ourselves better and avoid making such biases in the future!