"The effect is to evaluate an individual high on many traits because of a belief that the individual is high on one trait"



Think of one of your favorite celebritys, lets take Brad Pitt. A cool guy right? He is handsome, charasmatic in interviews and aweseom at his trade. So given the opportunity you would probably like to go for a beer with him. But do you really know him? Why is he such a cool guy?
Why do woman find him so attractive? Why does he seem 'nice'? In reality, behind closed doors he could be a total dick. But just becase he is very good looking and succesful we assume that he is an all around good guy. This is the halo effect.

If that went over your head, then let me throw another example at you because this is quite a complex theory to grasp. I am going buy you a
pair of jeans - one is a £260 pair of Calvin Kleins and the other is £30 pair from Topman. Which one are you going to take?
Most likely you going to pick the CK's, Why? Because you attribute the name Calvin Klein to high fashion, style, quality. When they are most likely made in the same sweat shop as the topman pair. This is called "Reputation Marketing" and advertisers and retailers are fully aware that you will pay more for branded gear. They know all too well of the Halo effect and put it to good use.

1977, Physiologists Nisbett & Wilson went about studying the phenomena. They used College students who were told the research they were conduction was investigating teacher evaluations. More Specifically, they were told the experimenters were to determine whether judgements varied depending on the amount of exposure students had to a particular lecturer. Of course this was a lie.

The students had been divided into two groups who were going to watch two different videos of the same lecturer, who happened to have a strong Belgian accent. One group watched the lecturer answer a series of questions in an extremely warm and friendly manner. The second group saw exactly the same person answer exactly the questions in a cold and distant manner. Experimenters made sure it was obvious which of the lecturers alter-egos was more likeable. In one he appeared to like teaching and students and in the other he came across as a much more authoritarian figure who didn't like teaching punk kids at all.

After each group of students watched the videos they were asked to rate the lecturer on physical appearance, mannerisms and even his accent (mannerisms were kept the same across both videos). Consistent with the halo effect, students who saw the 'warm' incarnation of the lecturer rated him more attractive, his mannerisms more likeable and even is accent as more appealing. This was unsurprising as it backed up previous work on the halo effect.

These unconscious judgements are made all the time. Think about that, a smile, a warm manner. You are instantly more attractive to people! Simple. Familiarity with this theory does not guarantee that your proficiency will not cause harm to another. Just because I dress like a rock start does not not mean I am one. On the other hand, a lack of familiarity with this concept will result in your more readily succumbing to its effects.


Word


BTW there is an opposite of this called the "devil effect". For instance, see a teenager in the street in a tracksuit hoodie, you assume he is up to no good. Of course, he probably is up to no good. Then again I read the Daily Mail....

hell yeah, keep smiling and the world smiles with you, cliches are there for a reason. Nice to have some anecdotal evidence instead of having to rely on what your nan says though.

leave it at that tbh