What other situations do you think the Halo Effect may be a problem in other than in the workplace?
The Halo Effect happens when people have instinctive preferences and make better comments on good-looking men or women. It happens not only in the workplace, but also in social. In the past, family violence reports highlighted that neighbors thought the perpetrators were nice, polite and friendly, so they didn’t know they had violent traits.
There was a famous case in Taiwan years ago: a man with a PhD hurt his legislator girlfriend severely. The man was tall and good looking, so most people thought he was a successful man. What’s more, he had plenty of impressive credentials resulting in the Halo Effect.
After the news broadcasted, two other ex-girlfriends told the reporter they had suffered his violence as well. It seemed that he took advantage of the Halo Effect to attract innocent people and tragedies happened repeatedly.
I think most criminals are good at manipulating people’s natural inclinations. They might mask their crimes under their friendly faces so that no one would notice their dark sides. As a rule of thumb we should always keep thinking rationally and be aware of the flaws of the Halo Effect.
