haloefekt

Halo effect, or haloefekt in Danish, is a cognitive bias whereby an overall impression of a person, object, or brand influences judgments about their specific attributes. A positive global impression tends to inflate perceptions of unrelated traits, while a negative one can suppress them. The effect can operate automatically and unconsciously, shaping evaluations in hiring, performance reviews, and consumer choices.

The term was introduced by psychologist Edward Thorndike in the early 20th century, based on studies of military officers where ratings on overall impression correlated with assessments of intelligence, leadership, and other traits. The image of a halo around a person’s head was used metaphorically to describe how one salient trait biases evaluation of others.

Mechanisms include cognitive heuristics, affective reactions, and social desirability. Context matters: the same overall impression can yield different attributions depending on the task and cultural norms. The halo effect is often observed in face-to-face judgments but can also affect judgments about products, brands, and environments.

Common examples include judges awarding higher scores to well-dressed defendants, or customers attributing higher quality to products from a favorite brand. In management, attractive or persuasive applicants may be rated as more competent regardless of objective qualifications.

Mitigation strategies focus on structured, criterion-based assessments, objective performance metrics, and the use of multiple independent raters to reduce reliance on a single impression. Awareness training can also help reduce susceptibility.

See also: horn effect, confirmation bias, stereotyping.