Concept in Definition ABC

While each individual has a personality unique and unrepeatable, very often we judge others based on the first impression we have of them. In this assessment Initially physically attractive people are judged positively due to a bias cognitive, the halo effect.

The social prestige of the handsome and the halo effect

In the field of psychology all kinds of research have been done that highlight the connection between self-worth and physical beauty. Thus, most people attribute human qualities to handsome men that have nothing to do with their beauty. In a simplified way we could say that we think that the ugly are worse people than the handsome. This way of reasoning has no foundation or any logic, but despite this it is a general trend.

In most cultures, physical attractiveness plays an important role. Handsome men not only attract attention for their appearance, but they are also valued positively with respect to their human qualities. We unreasonably believe that physically attractive men and women are somehow better. This self-deception of the mind acts unconsciously and functions as a prejudice.

The mental mechanism of this cognitive bias can cause great disappointments and all kinds of unfair evaluations.

The halo effect can also explain other types of self-deception. Thus, if we meet a strong man we may think that he is going to protect us and if we meet a musician it is likely that we believe that he is someone especially sensitive in other facets of life. In this way, a physical trait or a specific characteristic of an individual makes us imagine a series of qualities or virtues.

The halo effect is not a recent discovery, since it was described around 1920 by the American psychologist Edward L. Thorndike.

One of the most ingrained cognitive biases

Attractive men and women typically appear in advertisements because advertisers know that the halo effect serves to manipulate the minds of consumers. In this way, the consumerpotential has the following association of ideas: an actor or actress of obvious physical attractiveness affirms that a product is interesting and the consumer automatically thinks that this product may be interesting for him.

The halo effect is present in very diverse contexts: job interviews, the marketing sector or simply in our daily evaluations of other people

It is worth remembering that in most trials the defendants tend to take care of their physical appearance to communicate a positive image of themselves (studies have shown that attractive people have fewer sentences than people ugly).

Photos: Fotolia - MattS / Thomas