The halo effect: victims of stereotypic thinking. Halo effect or generalization effect

The first scientific experiment of the halo effect is associated with the names of Nisbett and Walson. This has been talked about before, but there was no scientific evidence.

To study the impact of society's stereotypes, the following experiment was conducted: two groups listened to a lecture by one teacher, who tried to be kind and friendly in one video, and authoritarian in the second. The result of the study: the students found the first recording of the lecture more attractive, but they argued that the style does not affect the teacher’s assessment.

The halo effect exists, but people do not realize that they are under its influence. The halo effect is actively used in the areas of management, marketing, and politics.

Life hack: how to sell profitably using a halo?

The halo effect is a reliable tool that makes it easy to increase sales.

Sellers use the halo effect not only in relation to products and services, but also in judgments about customers.

An inexperienced seller is not always able to assess the buyer’s solvency, because he thinks in stereotypical ways. But it’s not for nothing that they say that “you can’t judge a book by its cover.” Only a competent seller remembers that people’s first impressions can be false and the buyer should not be judged by primary characteristics.

For example, stereotypically pensioners are offered something inexpensive, but a person in an expensive suit will definitely be treated as a VIP client. Although you need to look a little deeper and be guided not only by halos of perception. An experienced salesperson identifies without succumbing to stereotypical perceptions.

Management and business: spheres of influence

In relation to people, the halo effect works when it is his business card. Even if a person makes a mistake, he will be acquitted in society, since he has shown himself positively before. And a statement from a respected person about a product can give a significant impetus to the development of the company. So, after public statements Vladimir Putin about shares of state-owned companies, they began to rise in price.

People begin to attach labels already at the first meeting with a person. Therefore, it is so important when meeting someone, at an interview or to look neat and behave well. Any minor mistake affects the opinion of a person and his further perception. Proper positioning of yourself or your product will help you easily hide shortcomings.

The “halo effect” is a common phenomenon in human society. It is forming a superficial opinion about a certain person. For various reasons, we do not go into details of the study. inner world another individual, and, having formed a certain opinion about him based on the first impression, we adhere to it for a long time.

Features of manifestation

The “halo effect” is also called labeling. We form a certain opinion about another person, guided by our own intuition and emotional sensations. If an individual helped in something or provided a great service, then he automatically goes into the category of “good”, but if there is a connection with him unpleasant situation, then in the category of “bad”.

We see a person only from one side, but almost any personality is multifaceted and interesting, and is capable of expressing itself from different angles. For example, you accidentally find out that the person who helped you at work is a real sadist and a tyrant in the family, and beats his wife and children. At first it will be difficult to believe it, but when the data is confirmed, you will try to justify it. The first impression of a person is always one of the strongest and then it is quite difficult to change it.

The halo effect can be of two types:

• positive;
• negative.

How often can we judge an individual by perceiving him from only one side. This is typical for politicians, TV stars, etc., we know little about them, and judge only by the image they create on the screen. But it may differ significantly from reality. This fact leads to extreme manifestations that can be characterized as fanaticism. This is especially common among teenagers and young adults.

But this psychological phenomenon can lead not only to the deification of a person, but also to persecution of him. This is often used by many political figures, creating a “crowd effect” and turning an individual or group of individuals into “scoundrels” and “outcasts.”

The “halo effect” is often used by deceivers and scammers. They know that under certain circumstances a person will not go into detail and will take a lie at face value. Most often they like to play on fear or surprise. While the victim is in a state of stress or euphoria, they receive everything they need and disappear in an unknown direction.

One of the most striking examples of fraud is described in literary work N.V. Gogol "The Inspector General". While waiting for the inspector to arrive, people willingly mistake the visiting rogue for a visiting inspector.

The phenomenon known as the “halo effect” is essentially one of psychological effects. Based on them, people make certain conclusions about personality characteristics. They are quite stable and can be used for different individuals, turning into a kind of psychological transference. For example, all women drive cars poorly and often get into accidents. This belief allows us to believe that all ladies do not know how to drive a car. However, as practice shows, this is far from the case.

This psychological phenomenon is derived from the occurrence when people, knowing that they are taking caramels instead of medicine, are convinced that they will be cured.

Causes

This psychological phenomenon can occur when following conditions:

• lack of time

Each person is a separate world with his own habits, advantages and disadvantages. In most cases, people are guided by the first impression of a person, without going into the details of his personality. There is simply not enough time for this, because in the age modern globalization people are constantly in a hurry and trying to get somewhere. There is constant time pressure. Everyone is busy only with themselves, and does not care about other individuals. People expect someone to break into their lives and see the entire hidden depth of their soul, which is what various kinds of scammers actively take advantage of.

• in conditions of need for processing large quantity information

The “halo effect” is a very common phenomenon for HR workers and various admissions committees. Due to the nature of their profession, these people regularly have to communicate with big amount different personalities and select them according to certain criteria. IN in this case, such a psychological phenomenon helps in work activity by creating generalized images of various individuals in memory. This makes work easier and allows you to more effectively form staff and, thereby, carry out labor activity better quality.

For example, a human resources specialist, based on his own experience, will not send a person with a mathematical mind and an introverted character to the marketing department or vice versa.

• superficial attitude towards another person

Sometimes, “labeling” has a negative impact in the process of communicating with other people. Attributing non-existent qualities to individuals, condemnation, disdain or deification are all “by-products” of a superficial attitude towards another person.

Especially, this fact concerns show business stars. The very meaning of their work is to instill in the television audience a certain opinion about themselves, creating a certain aura of fame around themselves. It often happens that the demonstrated personality qualities are not actually inherent to him. For example, a person talks about mercy and forgiveness, but he himself angrily kicks a dog on the street and looks with disgust at the beggars.

A superficial assessment of another person gives rise to a fan movement among teenagers and youth. It is built on the deification of one’s idol through the image that he tries to convey in the media. Real personality traits are leveled out or turned into a trend, for example, drug addiction, promiscuity, idle life, etc.

• stereotypical thinking

People often become hostage to stereotypes, for example, all blondes are stupid or all Westerners live well. However, in reality this is far from the case. We expect people to behave in accordance with our reasons, but often the opposite is true. For example, a notorious street hooligan and scumbag, who is heading straight to prison, displays extraordinary mathematical abilities and eventually becomes a great scientist.

• bright, eccentric personality

Thanks to his shocking behavior, the individual achieves that he begins to be perceived through the image he created. Over time, this turns into a real problem for a person. When he tried to become someone else, he did not think that it would not last long, and it was impossible to live in an invented image.

However, the created “halo effect” helps to become famous and make good money, and is simply necessary for people creative professions. You also need to take into account the fact that this psychological phenomenon works in both directions. A striking example It could be the creation of an “enemy image” in politics or the persecution of a certain person among teenagers.

Subjectivism is present to one degree or another in every personality. Based on the unique experience we have lived through, we can form a definite opinion about this or that person. Each individual will have his own, because as many people there are as many opinions.

Positive and negative points

This psychological phenomenon has its pros and cons. Among positive points the following can be distinguished:

• allows you to quickly assess the basic personality traits of another person

Helps when communicating with a large number of people and when public speaking. This allows you to adapt to your interlocutor and make the dialogue more constructive. It is actively used for personnel selection, as well as in creative environment.

• helps in activities such as advertising and show business

In this case, the “halo effect” is simply necessary. This helps career development and financial enrichment of the individual.

Among cons can be distinguished:

• superficial assessment

This may lead to errors in personnel work and communicating with people in general. Pronounced snobbery and labeling create a repulsive effect and cause problems in communication.

• mismanagement

An inattentive manager may miss a true professional in his field due to a superficial judgment about a person. For example, if a person has a modest character and unpresentable appearance, then he is labeled an outsider. Although, under certain conditions, an individual could do the work of an entire department alone.

• conflict situations

A disdainful attitude towards another person contributes to the emergence of hostility. Having determined based on your life experience some basic criteria of his personality, you begin to treat him accordingly. For example, you talk rudely to the seller, believing that this is the manner of communication inherent in all trade workers. However, in doing so, you can greatly offend another person and create conflict situation.

In our age of information and accelerating pace of life, interest in everyone’s personality individual person begins to gradually be lost. The first impression an individual makes is enough for society to understand “everything” about him. However, this is not the case. There are many reasons why we do not notice the personality in each other, these include lack of time, chronic fatigue, stereotypes, extreme individualism, egocentrism, etc.

Why is a person inclined to label the people around him? This phenomenon has scientific explanation- halo effect. Favorable ground for the appearance of this effect occurs when you got to know a person superficially or before meeting you knew about his reputation in society - positive or negative.

The halo effect is a special tendency that almost every person has to evaluate the behavior of other people based on their initial impression.

To understand this phenomenon, let's give an example. Recently you have new colleague, which will soon effectively solve any of your problems. Moreover, in communication he turned out to be a friendly and pleasant person. You decide that this is someone you can rely on Hard time. But after a while you find out that he started a fight in a decent public establishment. The first thought that will arise in your mind will be something like this: “It can’t be! I knew him, this wonderful person". Thus, a positive halo effect is created. There is more than one example.

The halo effect can be both negative and positive. It appears in relation to acquaintances, public figures, politicians, pop stars, as well as in relation to famous brands. Let's say that if you once liked the product of a company, then in the future you may begin to consider its other products to be good. Although this may not be entirely true. As a result, you believe the label given, since there is simply no time to understand it.

Fraudsters use the halo effect with amazing success. An example can be given from classical literature. In the comedy, officials met Khlestakov, from the very beginning thinking that he was an auditor. Excessive confidence in this for a long time blinded them to the fact that Khlestakov did not understand his profession at all, did not fulfill his duties, and did not in any way resemble an auditor.

Under what conditions does the halo effect occur?

1. Lack of time. You don't have enough time to get to know a person well, carefully analyze his behavior and form an opinion about him as a person.

2. Excessive use can also cause this effect. Are you overloaded with information about different people so much so that you have no way to analyze each person's behavior in detail.

3. A stereotype of perception that has developed on the basis of society’s opinion about any group of people to which it belongs. this person. An example would be different subcultures: a person who professes punk culture and comes to an interview in his usual clothes will quite possibly be perceived negatively by the HR department.

4. Unique personality. Sometimes the most striking feature of a person catches the eye of society and pushes his other qualities into the background. Psychologists, in the course of their research, have concluded that in most cases a person’s appearance is a trait.

The halo effect can be observed in the behavior of absolutely all people, since it is the result of innate subjectivity.

Halo effect– the tendency to transfer previously received positive or negative information about a person to his real perception.

The effect of primacy and novelty– the importance of the order in which information about a person is presented; earlier information is characterized as primary, later information is characterized as new. When perceiving a stranger, the primacy effect is triggered; when perceiving a familiar person, the novelty effect is triggered.

Stereotyping- a stable image of a phenomenon or person, which is used as a well-known abbreviation when interacting with this phenomenon. The term was introduced by W. Lippmann in 1922, who saw in this phenomenon only a false and inaccurate representation used by propaganda. Often there is a stereotype associated with a person’s group affiliation, for example, to a particular profession.

The consequences of stereotyping can be:

1) simplifying the process of knowing another person;

2) the emergence of prejudice. If the past experience was negative, then the person associated with this experience will cause hostility when perceived again. Knowing about the effects of perception, a person can use this knowledge for his own purposes, creating a positive image among others - a perceived and transmitted image of a person. The conditions for the accepted image are: orientation towards socially approved forms of behavior corresponding to social control, and orientation towards the middle class according to social stratification. There are three levels of image: biological (gender, age, health, etc.), psychological (personality qualities, intelligence, emotional state, etc.), social (rumors, gossip).

Halo effect-attribution of qualities to a perceived person occurs based on the image that was previously formed about him from various sources of information. This pre-existing image acts as a “halo” that prevents one from seeing the actual features and manifestations of the object of perception. The halo effect also manifests itself when forming a first impression of a person, when the first favorable impression leads to a positive assessment of the person’s still unknown qualities, and vice versa, a general unfavorable impression contributes to the predominance of negative assessments.

Effects of "primacy" and "novelty"-depend on the order in which information about a person is presented to form an idea about him. When perceiving strangers, the very first known information about him is predominant. On the contrary, in situations of perception of a familiar person, the effect of novelty operates, which consists in the fact that the latter, i.e. newer information about it turns out to be the most significant.

5 Main types of prejudices: racism, sexism, ageism.

prejudice is always a deliberate judgment that instills in us prejudice against a person solely on the basis of his identification with a certain group

Prejudice- this is a false, but ingrained in the mind view of something. Prejudice are concepts such as stereotype and prejudice. Social manifestations of prejudice: racism, sexism, ageism(discriminatory behavior towards a certain group of people or a specific person based on his membership in a particular age group, for example, the category of older people), etc.

Ageism- watered a term denoting discrimination against younger or older generations, motivated by a hidden or explicit assumption that the young are incapable of judging something. things, and the old ones are weak. Belief that older people who live on social benefits are superfluous members of society, in other words, useless.

Discriminatory behavior

Many positions accept applicants no older than a certain age.

despite his experience and other advantages,

in their family - younger relatives may not listen to their opinion, ignore them. Racism

- a set of views based on the principles of the physical and mental inequality of human races and the decisive influence of racial differences on history and culture. Racism-

an institutional practice that results in the imposition of a subordinate position on members of a particular race.” is the belief that racial characteristics have a decisive influence on the abilities, intelligence, morality, behavioral characteristics and character traits of an individual human person, and not of a society or social group.

Ideas of Racism

about the original division of people into higher and lower races, of which the first are the creators of civilization and are called upon to dominate the second. The implementation of racist theories in practice sometimes finds expression in policies of racial discrimination.

it is an orientation that disadvantages one gender relative to the other.

sexism- discrimination against women.

– discrimination based on gender (from the English sex – biological sex)

• Recording effect
• Close and together
• Success in everything
• The influence of the first word

The formulation “law of precedence” appeared in 1925. Then the famous psychologist from the USA M. Lundt revealed that people are most influenced by the first message or news. Subsequent messages about any event have less impact on the person. In principle, this law is known to many. After all, there is a saying: “You meet someone by their clothes.” The law of precedence is actively used by students who, in their first years, try to obtain good grades. This will help them in their further studies; teachers often look at previous successes. The law also works in means mass media. Usually in the news the version of the channel is first put forward so that to a greater extent influence the audience.

We often meet with first impression effect V ordinary life. During the first meeting with a person, with some phenomenon or thing, we form our attitude. This attitude significantly influences our subsequent opinion. Using the first impression effect, you can quickly form all your thoughts regarding an object. Not always we're talking about about an involuntary impression, sometimes we make a verdict intentionally. Appearance and behavior have a huge impact on the first impression. But our own personality traits also play a role important role. It depends on them whether the first impression will be positive or negative, whether we evaluate individual qualities or the entire object, etc.

The opposite of the first impression effect is the halo effect. It is also called the halo effect or gall effect. He is already considering the formed opinion about an object, person or phenomenon after meeting him. If we see a positive reputation, we will attribute others good qualities. It is not necessary that these qualities will manifest themselves later, but the halo effect will do its job. Moreover, if a negative opinion has been formed about a person, then they will be attributed negative qualities, and positive ones will be ignored.

The halo effect is one of the favorite tricks of scammers. Moreover, we could read about some of them in fiction. Classic example- This is “The Inspector”. Khlestakov initially appeared before the other characters in the film as an auditor, an important and respected person. Even main character subsequently showed his incompetence, showed ignorance of his work, then the other characters did not notice this at all. Just as they didn’t notice that Khlestakov doesn’t look like an auditor at all.

There are several conditions that cause the halo effect in psychology:

• Lack of time. A person does not have time to fully familiarize himself with the object, carefully weigh the pros and cons, or consider in detail the character traits and personality traits of another person.
• Information flow. Often people simply do not have the opportunity to deal with everyone, especially with large flows of information and frequent acquaintances.
• lack of significance. People don't always give great importance to others. Therefore, the opinion may be vague, more like a halo.
• stereotypical opinion. If large group people express the same opinion about another person, then the opinion can be imposed by their attitude, and not by real impressions and their own arguments.
• brightness of a single feature. This may be an appearance or character trait, but if it is extraordinary, it will influence the overall impression. Usually the striking trait is not personality, but appearance.

We have one characteristic - we think in false analogies. This is the psychological basis of the halo effect. Exist examples of the halo effect that we encounter in Everyday life. They can often lead to misconceptions.

Recording effect

As mentioned above, students often work to pass their grades so that teachers can then inflate their grades. Real work It is taught only in the first or second year, then the student begins to pay less attention to studies and even skip classes. But the halo effect means that teachers will rate such students higher. If a student diligently studied with one teacher for a year, then he will unconsciously inflate his grade, even if his actual knowledge is not up to par. Moreover, many teachers try to pull out good students in the past if they show extremely low level knowledge. With a good record you can get an “excellent”, even if the answer doesn’t even qualify for a C.

Close and together

This phenomenon explains why many people like to be photographed in other people's expensive cars or in other people's luxurious country houses. It is believed that they take over some of the positive impressions and wealth of these objects. Also, many politicians often appear in the company of celebrities - talented singers and actors. So they try to get some more love and the public recognition that stars have. If to an ordinary person managed to take pictures with prominent figures, the photograph will become a source of pride. It's as if they are taking over others' success. But it is worth remembering that “next to” does not mean “together”.

Success in everything

If a person is different special successes in one area, this does not mean that he will achieve heights in other areas. Although many people are subject to this misconception. It is worth remembering that we cannot be successful in all areas. Some areas require exactly the opposite achievements. For example, a harsh attitude and rigidity at work cannot be correlated with softness and tenderness in the family. Although many people try to show their success in all areas. For example, Arnold Schwarzenegger, being a successful actor, decided to try himself in the political field. By the way, this stereotype most often appears in the political sphere.

The influence of the first word

The discoverer of this effect was Joseph Goebbels. He argued that the person who said the first word will always be considered right. This phenomenon has been confirmed by many psychologists. They found that if a candidate can convincingly tell the electorate during the race that he will win, he will actually win in most cases. It's all about conquest mass consciousness. The research was carried out by scientists at Yale University, and this discovery was also made by K. Hovland, N. Janis and L. Doub. In their opinion, if a person was the first to convey his position to people, beating his rivals, then his activities will be more successful. The phenomenon is explained by the inability to verify the information received. If we hear certain promises from different politicians, we will believe the first one rather than the next one. And this opinion will not be easy to change.

The effect is often used to reduce the reputation of competitors. If unpleasant facts are poured on the enemy, then people can impose non-existent sins on him. Their argument will be impenetrable: “If he is justified, it means he is guilty.” Even if the accusation was proven only 10%, and the refutation was proven 100%, people will still believe the first one. Historians attribute these words to Hitler. Moreover, the person making the accusation will always be slightly higher in people's minds than his victim.

How to influence the halo effect?

The answer to this question is given by Phil Rosenzweig, who owns book "The Halo Effect". He claims that with this psychological feature one can fight and even destroy a wrong impression or opinion. The author presents many examples that prove his words. Although these examples show that the so-called person with a halo, who creates a halo effect around himself, is not able to influence the situation. Changes occur due to the psychological state of the subject.

Hurricane Katrina, which caused enormous damage to the US economy and claimed many lives, caused a decline in the popularity of George W. Bush. His economic policies were also criticized. But after 9/11, popularity grew, along with satisfaction with economic policy. After the terrorist attacks, Americans began to see Bush as a protector, hence the rise in his reputation. But people cannot assess the situation from different aspects. For them there are no half measures; the president can only be bad or only good.

You can also take an example from 2008. At that time, a financial crisis was raging in all countries. And many large companies received letters from negative reviews about your products. The reviews were written by old and trusted clients who have used the services of the companies for a long time. This is due to stressful situation. Because of the crisis, people began to notice little things and perceive them more acutely. This reaction is described in social psychology. It is so powerful that it cannot be influenced or changed.

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