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Halo Effect

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The Halo effect
Mr. Yegrrrrn Dennohrr
Sasha College
24/05/2014

The halo effect
The phenomenon which occurs when an individual judges a person and decides on his likability based on his specific traits. The occurrence of the halo effect is best described in an instance where a movie star or a musician often portrayed not only as being attractive but also likable. An so based on these qualities, most individuals tend to think that they also are friendly, cheerful, have a good personality and so on and so forth. (Thorndike, 1920, p. 25-29).
In trying to find an explanation to this phenomenon, theorists identified the socio-cultural theory which plays a major role in explaining this phenomenon. The socio-cultural theory provides an explanation on how social interaction and cultural interaction affects what the mind perceives. It is clear that the mind plays a very important role in the halo effect since it is the one that determines likability. (Efran, 1974, p. 45–54)
In this document, in-depth discussions on halo effect are going to be looked into, from the writers opinion, the concept of the halo effect can be generally categorized under the attribute of likability. In other words people make judgments based on the qualities one is attracted to for example people like people who are intelligent, skillful, attractive, among others. Basically it is all about likability of a person, a product or a service. Some of the personal experiences on the halo effect are discussed below.
There was a time when I and my friend went for a job interview back when I was on holiday. In that interview, there was an under-qualified colleague who managed to secure a job. Despite being under-qualified, he was the most smartly dressed man there. No one knows how he got the job. When asked, the man just says he does not even know what happened. It is clear t me now that halo effect played a role in him securing the job (Schneider, Gruman, & Coutts, 2012, p. 34). Another instance is in the school setting.
Another instance was when we were in school. It came to my attention that I and my classmates preferred certain teachers more than others. When we were asked why that was the case, the reasons provided was that the teacher was friendly and warm to us. Little did I know that halo effect had come into play (Landy & Sigall, 1974, p. 299–304). Marketers also use halo effect by seeking the services of celebrities.
Each time when am seated watching television whether at school or at home, the program I am watching gets interrupted and a television commercial is played with Dr. Dre, the rapper, showcasing his cool head phones, in it. When schools resume I find everyone having one. I was left to wonder what makes those headphones that special when compared to other headphones. It is now clear to me that halo effect played a major role in these ideas of the headphones. Another instance where halo effect comes into play is in seeking employment.
From the three personal examples, it is clear that likability plaid a major role. From personal experience, I have observed many cases other than the ones mentioned above and all I can say is that a common factor sticks out in all cases. That is, likability and attractiveness.
It is important for everyone to understand that halo effect is part of us. And most of the time, it occurs without us knowing about it. Judging a book by the cover is more so what halo effect all about, and so this shows that it has negative effects when unexpected events start to occur based on decisions made through halo effect. Furthermore, with the knowledge on the existence of the halo effect, evading halo effect is not going to be easy. It is obvious that studies needs to be done on halo effect.

References
Efra, M.G (1974). The effect of physical appearance on the judgment of guilt, interpersonal attraction, and severity of recommended punishment in simulated jury task. Journal of Research in Personality, 8, 45–54.
Landy, D, & Sigall, H (1974) Task evaluation as a function of the performers' physical attractiveness. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 29(3), 299–304.
Schneider, F.W., Gruman, J. A., & Coutts, L. M (2012). Understanding and Addressing Social and Practical Problems. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 2, 15-34.
Thorndike, E. L. (1920). The Constant Error in Psychological Ratings. Journal of Applied Psychology, 4, 25-29.

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