I found learning about the halo effect very valuable in enhancing my understanding of how and why I, and in fact most people, react to people in their lives that they honor and respect by putting them up on a kind of pedestal.
I learned about this from a mentor and one of my professors, Matti Gershenfeld, when I was working on my Master’s degree at Temple. She and her colleague Rodney Napier, both PhDers, co-authored an amazing book entitled Groups: Theory and Experience, that provides outstanding research on group dynamics and ways to make working in groups more effective.
Here’s how they explained this phenomenon called the halo effect [pp. 11, 12]: “When people make decisions, most believe their judgments are based on facts and information. They believe that in a particular situation, given specific, relevant information, they can render impartial judgments uninfluenced by their personal knowledge of the people involved.” They describe how two researchers from the Institute of Social Research at the University of Michigan discovered a phenomenon known as the halo effect. Their conclusion: “One’s objectivity is not to be trusted.” They give the example that if you are usually annoyed when someone is consistently late, but find lateness charming in a friend whom you like, you have experienced the halo effect.
They note that, “People tend to rely on their prior assumptions about the causes of behavior instead of direct introspections.” Therefore, they conclude, “the validity of self-reporting is questionable because people do not know why they do what they do. We often admit to not knowing how we arrived at a judgment. But even when we think we are making objective judgments, research shows we are not. Given this fact, is it any wonder that opinions among many observers may differ even where objective evidence is available for analysis?”
I think what makes this phenomenon very interesting is that it happens to us without our knowing that it’s happening. We just believe certain people for whom we have put halos on their heads, so to speak, are above reproach, and should be trusted without our actually vetting them objectively.
I know for me because I write a lot of materials for the Lakeside Global Institute, I am respected for my knowledge and writing abilities. Sometimes, however, I think people have put me on a kind of pedestal and think anything I say or do should be seen as perfect. I have often said how important I think it is to be critical thinkers and careful consumers and yet when anyone is experiencing the halo effect towards someone else, they lose their objectivity. I don’t ask for this unmerited admiration and often feel embarrassed by it. And at the same time I put certain people in my life on a similar pedestal: my boss, some of the more famous trauma experts like Dr. Sandy Bloom and Dr. Bruce Perry, who I know personally, to name a few. I logically know they are not perfect and yet I tend to believe that whatever they teach or advocate must be correct. I logically know that is not true, but the halo effect impacts my feelings about them and what they are advocating.
Consider today’s political world, specifically how Mr. Trump convinced slightly more than half the voting population in this country that his many promises about what he would do immediately as president would actually happen. I suspect most of them believed Trump because they were experiencing the halo effect, seeing him as a kind of superhuman capable of actually accomplishing all he promised he could do. He had mesmerized them at his many rallies and in his advertisements causing people to see him through rose-colored glasses. Those experiencing the halo effect most likely discredited fact checks showing his many lies that go against their illogical but powerful beliefs that he can do no wrong. Those who can be more objective about his promises can see through all the bravado and can recognize that much of it is untrue.
I don’t think any of us can avoid experiencing the halo effect. At the same time by knowing that it exists, we can work to be more objective regarding our evaluations and open to the fact that we may be wrong.
Invitation for Reflection
- Have you ever heard about the halo effect before? If not, what are your reactions to it?
- Can you see how there might be people in your life that you have put on a pedestal, i.e. are experiencing the halo effect towards them, that may prevent you from being objective about who they really are? How might that be impacting your relationship with them?
- Are there people in your life that may have put you up on a pedestal, seeing you as perhaps more capable than you know you are? How does that make you feel?
- Are there people you might want to share this information with to enhance your and their abilities to be aware of the halo effect and therefore better able to avoid going overboard with it?
Diane Wagenhals
Director Emeritus, Lakeside Global Institute