The halo effect phenomenon is researched by Nisbett & Wilson (1977) and published in their experimental paper titled The Halo Effect: Evidence for Unconscious Alteration of Judgments and will be the main topic of this paper. The halo effect, also known as the physical attractiveness stereotype is a form of cognitive bias in which we assume that people who are physically attractive are also blessed with other appealing attributes such as kindness and intelligence. Limited information about the halo effect is known, and experiments conducted on the topic are even scarcer. This stereotype is portrayed to us at a young age through most Disney movies where we learn that if something is beautiful it is also good. A prime example is Cinderella and …show more content…
This helps us organize the schemas related to how we see the world despite not always being correct. Assuming that anyone who is kind is also honest and trustworthy is a prime example. That being said self-fulfilling prophecies occur when our beliefs lead us to fulfilling them. If a teacher assumes that a student is intelligent based on factors other than intelligence it can actually push the student to achieve academically. The teacher may dedicate more time to help the student, may call on them more in class, and may give better feedback. If a student believes they are intelligent and capable they are more likely to pursue their studies with greater focus and motivation. What is apparent is that the way people judge and perceive others attributes based on global perceptions and evaluations can in fact affect what opportunities a person is given in life, as well as their …show more content…
Researchers combined the data together for males and females as the results for both genders showed no significant difference. Researchers did not inform the students of the actual hypothesis (as stated above) to ensure genuine and unbiased responses. Students were informed that researchers were interested in knowing whether student’s initial evaluations of a professor were identical to evaluations students had reported after spending an entire semester with him. The independent variable of interest was the psychology professor whom was manipulated to play the role of a likeable, respectful, flexible and enthusiastic professor in interview number one, and an unlikeable, cold, untrusting and dictative professor in interview number two. To ensure a baseline for appearance in both interviews the researchers showed participants either tape one or tape two interviews without any sound. Students were asked to rate his physical appearance and only a miniscule difference was noted. Interview questions were also operationalized to be the same in both interviews to avoid inconsistency. Students were split into groups to watch one of the two interviews containing the same professor. The dependent variables used included the professor’s perceived likeability, and characteristics including physical appearance, mannerisms and accent which were measured
The example above took place in 1971. Philip Zimbardo, the head administrator of Stanford University in Palo Alto, California conducted this experiment with the help of some other professors at the university, and twenty four male college students from the university. The initial purpose of the experiment was to examine the effect of roles. Zi...
Hosoda, M., Stone-Romero, E. F., & Coats, G. “The effects of physical attractiveness on job-related outcomes: A meta-analysis of experimental studies”. Personnel Psychology, 56 (2003): 431-462.
One of the problems with graphic rating scales that quickly became apparent after their introduction is the so-called ‘halo effect.’ When examining graphic ratings of performance, Ford (2001) found that there was a tendency for raters to give similar scores to a ratee on all dimensions of performance. Parrill (1999( To rate a worker in this manner would be the equivalent of rating the worker on one single scale, as opposed to many different scales that measure different aspects of work performance. Other researchers also discovered this problem. Parrill (1999) Soon, there was a great deal of literature documenting the problem of halo when using graphic rating scales. More current literature has also documented the issue of halo, citing that it continues to be a pervasive problem with graphic rating scales (Landy and Farr, 2000).
The human race is comprised of a plethora of shapes, sizes, colors, and figures. Some of these images are regarded as ‘distorted’ in dominant culture, but these distortions are what makes every person unique and should be celebrated. Stereotypes, whether positive or negative, take these ‘distortions’ and assign behavioral attributes to them. This assumes that all persons who meet a certain set of physical requirements behave in a similar way. Due to the diversity of the human race, this outcome is highly improbable. Despite this, stereotypes are often used to describe a group of people, usually amplifying a negative trait that may not b...
Fred Edmund Jandt (2003), the word “stereotype” was first used to show the judgments made about individuals on the origin of their racial background. Today the expression is more commonly used to pass on to events made on the basis of a groups association. Psychologists have attempted to give explanations of stereotyping as errors that our brains make in the judgment of other people that are related to those mistakes our brains make in the view of illustration illusions. When information is blurred, the brain frequently reaches the incorrect conclusion. (p.77)
Additionally, and antithetically, consider the example of the student studying for a mathematics test the following morning whose belief is that since he is and has been studying and has a good working knowledge of the subject area, that he will do well on the test and does so the following morning. When compared to another student doing the same but is less prepared and knowledgeable in the area and additionally thinks that he will fail and did, he performed better because of his positive expectation and preparedness. Take a moment to reconsider the inclusion of the idea of preparation in the example. Here, preparation is just as important a factor to consider because it is a variable that can greatly surpass the influence of the self-fulfilling prophecy. The other student who did not prepare well and did not know the material as well would have failed anyway, despite how great of preconceived thoughts he may have had. In this case, because the concept...
Many people’s assumptions are driven by appearance but in some cases the appearance can be
The words good and bad, were also applied to the images. The data declared that the author had a strong automatic preference for White faces, over Black faces. Based on the knowledge of what implicit bias means, the participant was surprised by these results. The results indicated that the participant had a smoldering, rotten perception of Black people, which was simply preposterous.
The article “Self-Fulfilling Prophecy” written by The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia™ says that a self-fulfilling prophecy is “A concept developed by Robert K merton to explain how a belief or expectation, whether correct or not affects the outcome of a situation or the way a person (or group) will behave.” It can also be defined as a “Process through which an originally false expectation leads to its own confirmation”(“Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia™”). All Self-Fulfilling prophecies don’t come true but most of the time they do(“Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia™”). Self-fulfilling prophecies are perfect examples of the pygmalion
Taking all this information into consideration, the present study sought to investigate the effects occupational stereotypes have on forming impressions and personality judgements. The aim of the study was to see how different groups of participant rated a photograph of an unknown individual on things such as likability, wealth, education and status. This was done by using three separate groups, the same face was used on each image but the job title was changed for each test group.
In the case study “If Looks Could Kill”, the hiring process is down to three candidates: Jamal, Tanya, and Darrell. The Hiring committee has to decide which candidate to rule out. All of the committee members agree that this is a difficult decision expect for one. One member of the committee speaks up and says that they think Darrell has to be the one ruled out because of his poor looks. The decision to rule out Darrell based on his looks is the main ethical issue. There are also a few secondary issues that include the student’s reaction to Darrell after his teaching demonstration, the study on physical attractiveness and success, and the question one weather or not physical attractiveness should be a deciding factor on weather or not to hire someone. Below is a chart that includes an analysis of options the hiring committee can make and the people affected by the decision.
It is observed that raters adopt a different approach while rating women and men. For example, it
Taylor, Pepau, & Sears (2000) explain that first impressions are extremely important because they are the initial idea that an individual forms about another individual and determine whether they decide to pursue any type of relationship. People tend to form impressions of each other relatively quickly and use minimal information such as the gender of the o...
The experiment given by Aronson and Cope tested the attractiveness and punishments given by a person based on their relationship with another person. Forty male and forty female were randomly assigned to get a harsh experimenter and pleasant experimenter, harsh experimenter and harsh supervisor, pleasant experimenter and pleasant supervisor, or pleasant experimenter and harsh supervisor. The people who participated in the experiment thought they were participating in a study on creativity. The college students had to write a creative story on each picture that they were shown. The graduate student, who was the experimenter, always had a negative reaction to their stories but was either considerate about letting them know or was really harsh and rude about informing the students about their not creative stories. Then the experimenter would put his foot on the on the vent in the room and that would signal the supervisor to come interrupt the session to let the experimenter know if they had done a good job or bad job on the research that he had been conducting. This research is ba...
It is only in recent years that physical attractiveness was looked upon from a scientific point of view and not simply a poetic or philosophical pondering. We now know that we have a predisposition to see physical attraction as the primary factor of romantic attraction. When people first begin to date, they are more attracted to the partners they deem to be more physically attractive 1. Another example of physical attraction as an influential factor of our attraction to others is seen in the matching hypothesis. The matching hypothesis proposes that the forming of a successful relationship is far more prone to occurring with people whom they consider to have an equal level of physical attractiveness to themselves.