Halo effect: not so halo?

Imagine a situation where you see someone who has a very pretty and bright smile. Based on their physical appearance, that is their smile, you perceive that person as very friendly and kind. So you approach the person but contrary to your beliefs, the person is not at all friendly and talks rudely with everyone.

Just because you saw one positive trait about someone, you assumed that the person might have other positive traits too!

This is the “halo effect” where our brain leads us to think that a person possessing a positive trait, also has other positive traits.

This influences our perceptions of people and may lead to biased judgements.

This is a negative notion as it may severely affect our judgment about someone and can lead to bad choices.

For example, in the case of friendship, you might befriend someone who showed a positive trait but then later you find out that your friend isn’t like what you expected.

It’s important to take into account the “halo effect” and make sure you do not categorise a person into someone having only positive traits just because you have seen one of their positive traits.

Being aware of this during new meetings is very important and can help reduce this effect.

Be rational and think carefully! Being aware is one of the first steps to help reduce this cognitive bias.

Photo by name_ gravity on Unsplash

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