What does "halo" mean?

The so-called "halo effect", "stereotype effect" and "halo phenomenon" refer to an exaggerated social impression formed in the process of interpersonal interaction, just like the brilliance of the sun and moon, reflected in the clouds and fog. Under the influence, it expands to all around, forming a halo effect. It often manifests itself in the fact that a person's initial impression of another person (or thing) determines his overall view, but he is unable to identify the other person's true qualities, forming a good or bad "prejudice". Therefore, the halo effect can also be called the "one-point overview effect." It is the result of generalization and stereotype of subjective inference.

Dean designed an experiment: Let the subjects look at some photos. Some of the people in the photos are very attractive, some are average, and some are very poor; then, let the subjects use the Words that have nothing to do with charisma describe these people. The results showed that attractive people received high ratings in all aspects, while unattractive people received low ratings in all aspects. This phenomenon, which is generalized and extended by cognitive characteristics to other aspects, is called the halo effect, or "halo effect." Judging people by their appearance is a halo effect for first time acquaintances.

In photography terms, it can also be called the halo effect. "Halo" is a photographic term. Anyone who knows photography knows that photographic imaging is caused by light sensitizing the emulsion layer of the film. When the light is too strong, it will not only penetrate the emulsion layer, but also pass through the emulsion and reflect back to the film base, causing secondary light in the emulsion layer. In this way, a halo-like image will appear around the elephant, which is called a halo phenomenon.

The halo phenomenon will affect people's overall and accurate understanding of things, making people feel blurred about the original appearance of the image. Psychological research shows that similar phenomena sometimes occur in people's psychological activities. As people often say, "a little bit of it is not as good as the rest." Therefore, psychologists call the effect of this strong impression on people and things the halo effect.

The halo effect can make people successful, but it can also deceive people. We should correctly understand the halo effect, give full play to its positive aspects, prevent its negative effects, and overcome the bias in social perception.