Hi guys,

I made a video yesterday about a cognitive bias in psychology named 'The Halo Effect'. It's not directly related to seduction but it does explain why first impressions are so important. So I figured it might be useful as an explanation for some. Here's a link to the video: https://youtu.be/zfo_Q7eF3-Y. (Mods, feel free to remove it if this is considered spam).

For those who prefer a written summary, here it is:

The Halo Effect is a cognitive bias, first observed by Edward Thorndike.

When we meet someone new, our brain tries to make a first impression of this person. This impression is often a generalization of what we already know about this person. In most cases, we will only know something about his / her looks. Our brain will try to extend this impression to other traits that are completely unrelated, such as intelligence, social skills, etc. If you want to seduce a lady (or guy), you want to make sure they know that you have good genes for reproduction, which they will after making a good impression. This is why that first impression is so important. Personally, I do think that the first impression goes beyond merely looks. If you dress properly, smile and show confidence, you're already doing way better than 80% of the guys. (Nevertheless, having good looks is a slight bonus.)

The Halo Effect applies to more than just seduction and can be based on anything you can imagine. An experiment even showed that psychiatrists and teachers are biased based on the names of their patients and students. The effect also occurs in marketing!

Before you start thinking that beautiful people will always be advantaged, please do remember that there is something called 'The Reverse Halo Effect'. The reverse halo effect states that more attractive people will also be seen as more narcissistic, materialistic, superficial, etc.

Last but not least, there is the 'Horn Effect'. This effect states that unattractive people are more likely to be punished because of crimes, etc.

I would love to hear your opinion!

Do you have some personal experience with the Halo Effect? Share it with us!

Love you all,

Willem

​

​

References:

Berscheid, E., & Walster, E. (1974). Physical Attractiveness. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology Volume 7, 157–215. doi:10.1016/s0065-2601(08)60037-4 

Dermer, M., & Thiel, D. (1975). "When Beauty May Fail". Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 31 (6): 1168–1176. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.552.3491. doi:10.1037/h0077085.

Forgas, J. P. (2011), "She just doesn't look like a philosopher…? Affective influences on the halo effect in impression formation", European Journal of Social Psychology, 41 (7): 812–817, 

Forgas, J. P., & Laham, S. M. (2016). Halo effects. Cognitive illusions: Intriguing phenomena in judgement, thinking and memory, 276-290.

Frank, M. (31 August 2012). "What good is a halo car anyway?". Popular Mechanics. Hearst Communications, Inc.

Sigall, H., & Ostrove, N. (1975). "Beautiful but Dangerous: Effects of Offender Attractiveness and Nature of the Crime on Juridic Judgment". Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 31 (3): 410–414. doi:10.1037/h0076472.

Tesser, A., & Brodie, M. (1971). A note on the evaluation of a “computer date”. Psychonomic Science, 23(4), 300-300.

Thorndike, E. L. (1920). A constant error in psychological ratings. Journal of applied psychology, 4(1), 25-29.