The halo effect and other's opinion of you

• We form a first impression of someone, then try to prove that that impression is right.
• We may struggle to separate the different traits that an entity is composed of. For example, if we try to assess someone's competence at work, we take irrel...

The halo effect is a cognitive bias. It causes people to assume something because of their impression of other aspects of it. For example, people think someone will have an interesting personality simply because they find the person attractive.

We can find the hal...

The halo effect influences how you judge others. Just because someone has a single positive trait doesn't mean you should form a favourable opinion of them. Conversely, just because they have a single negative quality doesn't mean you should form a negative impression.

The sequence in which we observe something matters as the halo effect increases the weight of the first impression.

One study presented two descriptions of a person. Both had identical traits. Description A opens with positive traits ( intelligent, industrious) and end...

• The halo effect in marketing: The halo effect can also influence how we judge things, such as products and companies. For example, if you have a positive impression of a specific brand, you're more likely to buy products from that brand.
• The horns ...