Beyond First Impressions: Understanding the Impact of the Halo Effect.
Welcome to 'The Brief Case'. a Newsletter where I "briefly" distill and discuss my life's random insights, realisations and epiphanies.
Psychologist Edward Thorndike first coined the term the Halo Effect in a 1920 paper titled "The Constant Error in Psychological Ratings." In the study outlined in the paper, Thorndike asked military commanding commanders to rate a number of attributes in their subordinate soldiers. Leadership, physical attractiveness, intelligence, loyalty, and reliability were some of these traits. Thorndike wanted to know how judgements of one attribute affected evaluations of other traits. He discovered that positive ratings of one quality also resulted in positive ratings of other qualities, whereas negative ratings of one quality also caused lower ratings of other qualities.
Today we are going to discuss and distill this phenomenon and eventually be more self-aware individuals.
The Halo Effect is a cognitive bias that affects how we perceive and evaluate a person, subject, thing, or concept. This bias happens when our general opinion of someone or something affects how we see and evaluate its distinctive characteristics. In other words, we tend to think that if someone has one positive trait, they must also have other positive traits, or if they have one negative trait, they must also have other negative traits.
The way we assess brands is one of the most relatable instances of the Halo Effect. We frequently think that if a brand is well-known and prosperous, it must also be excellent and provide fantastic goods or services. For this reason, even when products from well-known brands are not inherently superior to those from lesser-known companies, many consumers are willing to pay a premium for them.
How we view physically attractive people is another illustration of the Halo Effect. According to studies, we frequently make the assumption that good looking people are also more educated, charitable, and trustworthy than less attractive individuals. This can have a big impact on a lot of things in life, like hiring choices and personal relationships. While we might think that we have progressed past these shallow criteria of decision making, the Elephant in the Brain, subconsciously takes the decision for us in most cases.
The Halo Effect can also work in reverse, leading us to assume that someone who exhibits one negative trait must also have other negative traits. For example, if we hear that someone is rude or dishonest, we may assume that they are also incompetent or lazy, even if we have no evidence to support these assumptions.
But how can we avoid making decisions that are biassed in the majority of circumstances by judging people, issues, and things based on such flimsy standards? However, before doing that, we must first ask ourselves if we genuinely want to make an objective conclusion or if we actually value those flimsy criteria. If so, I think it's perfectly acceptable and understandable. However, there isn't much we can do either if you intentionally want to form an unbiased perspective other than:
Recognising our biases when assessing individuals, things, and concepts.
Instead of making a decision on the spot that impacts the other individual or a situation, we must always take some time reflect our thoughts and consciously consider the reasoning and rationale that goes behind our decision making.
This can be challenging, as the Halo Effect is often unconscious and automatic. However, by making a conscious effort to evaluate things objectively, we can reduce the influence of bias and make more informed decisions.
Thanks a lot for reading, have a fantastic Sunday. Bu-byeeee!!!
Warm Regards
Arnab Dey
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