halo effect

halo effect, error in reasoning in which an impression formed from a single trait or characteristic is allowed to influence multiple judgments or ratings of unrelated factors.

Research on the phenomenon of the halo effect was pioneered by American psychologist Edward L. Thorndike, who in 1920 reported the existence of the effect in servicemen following experiments in which commanding officers were asked to rate their subordinates on intelligence, physique, leadership, and character, without having spoken to the subordinates. Thorndike noted a correlation between unrelated positive and negative traits. The service members who were found to be taller and more attractive were also rated as more intelligent and as better soldiers. Thorndike determined from this experiment that people generalize from one outstanding trait to form a favourable view of a person’s whole personality.

In 1946, Polish-born psychologist Solomon Asch found that the way in which individuals form impressions of one another involved a primacy effect, derived from early or initial information. First impressions were established as more important than subsequent impressions in forming an overall impression of someone. Participants in the experiment were read two lists of adjectives that described a person. The adjectives on the lists were the same but the order was reversed; the first list had adjectives that went from positive to negative, while the second list presented the adjectives from negative to positive. How the participant rated the person depended on the order in which the adjectives were read. Adjectives presented first had more influence on the rating than adjectives presented later. When positive traits were presented first, the participants rated the person more favourably; when the order was changed to introduce the negative traits first, the same person was rated less favourably.