These paintings, in effect, lead the observer to form favorable judgments about their participants. Countless paintings from the Middle Ages as well as the Renaissance period depict notable men and women with the heavenly light of the halo. It refers to a circle of light which is placed above or around the head of a holy person or saint in order to honor his or her sanctity. The word ‘halo’ stems from a religious concept. For example, if you perceived a person to be warm and friendly, we will attribute a number of other associated traits to that person without any knowledge that they are true, such as they are generous. The halo effect is a cognitive attribution bias as it involves the unfounded application of general judgment to a specific trait (Bethel, 2010 Ries, 2006). The halo effect refers to the tendency to allow one specific trait or our overall impression of a person, company or product to positively influence our judgment of their other related traits.

The horn effect, which is closely tied to the halo effect, is the cognitive bias whereby one’s opinion of another is unduly shaped by a single negative trait.

The reverse halo effect is the phenomenon whereby positive perceptions of a person can yield negative consequences.

This cognitive error in judgment reflects one's individual prejudices, ideology, and social perception. People often tend to judge attractive individuals to have higher morality, better mental health, and greater intelligence.

An example of the halo effect is the attractiveness stereotype, which refers to the tendency to assign positive qualities and traits to physically attractive people.

The halo effect can shape our perception of others’ intelligence and competence, and its influence can be seen in many settings ranging from the classroom to the courthouse.

The American psychologist Edward Thorndike first recognized the halo effect with empirical evidence in 1920 in his article, A Constant Error in Psychological Ratings.

The halo effect, also referred to as the halo error, is a type of cognitive bias whereby our perception of someone is positively influenced by our opinions of that person’s other related traits.

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