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perception
You judge a stranger's intelligence by their physical attractiveness.
The halo effect is a cognitive bias where one trait influences the overall perception of a person, which Thorndike first observed in workplace/military performance ratings.
Thorndike's 1920 study analyzed how positive or negative ratings in one professional trait influenced ratings in unrelated professional categories, rather than proving that appearance alone dictates the perception of personality traits.
You are judging a book by its cover while believing you are reading the pages.
Where this comes from
- Study
- Edward Thorndike, 1920
- What the check found
- Thorndike coined 'halo effect' in 1920, but the claim oversimplifies his study on general performance ratings into a specific theory about appearance.
- Confidence
- Solid, with limits
Related
One of these every day, and every one names the study it came from. When a finding is contested, it says so.