The halo effect is a form of cognitive bias where we tend to bias our judgments towards things we like or feel good about.
In the working society, many times, a person’s worth is judged by their external appearance. Personal opinions or feelings are often used to judge people in society. The standard of beauty of a person is determined by the majority of people in society: this is beautiful, this is handsome, this is ugly, this is ugly. When the world was born, no one would have written down the rules for this kind of thing.
“We have to change ourselves all the time to meet the current beauty standards.”
If it’s a woman, she must have fair skin, big eyes, a clear face, smooth armpits, no leg hair, a small waist, and slender legs. Or if it’s a man, he must be tall, broad chest, broad shoulders, and a strong body that is worthy of being a man. In reality, who determines these things? The preferences that women must be this way and men must be that way change faster than the seasons, causing many people to lose a lot of money and suffer greatly from making themselves desirable by being someone who must be beautiful according to standards.
“When I was born, there was no appearance function to choose from.”
Everyone has their own definition of beauty, just like some people like the color black, some like red, some like art, some like music, and so on. The same goes for physical appearance. How can we set standards of beauty when the whole world can’t even like the same subject? We all came from different mothers, unless we are siblings. We are not born from molds. Our mothers don’t choose our looks and body shapes like they do in online dress-up games. So why should we care about these things?
“Beauty standards do not create beautiful people, but they create pain for many people.”
Whenever a standard or measure is set, the next thing that comes along is the comparison. If everyone is told to score 8 or more on this test, any kid who scores below 8 is immediately judged as not being good, even if that kid scores 6 or 7 out of 10. When people say women shouldn’t have armpit hair, most people who hold to this standard think that women who do have armpit hair are dirty, don’t take care of themselves, and are really useless, even though men can have them and they look clean.
“Dark, short, fat, acne-prone skin means those whose appearance is out of order and against the standard.”
Why is appearance something that we can make fun of? Many people suffer from being bullied simply because they do not meet the standards of beauty that most people like. If we like white people, why do we criticize black people? Our skin color has been like this since birth. Moreover, when we criticize others for not meeting the standards of beauty, it is not even our business. Because skin is their skin, their face is their face. The problem that follows is, is the problem coming from appearance or people’s thoughts?
“In a world of biased scores”
The scores that people who are born with the standard appearance carry with them since birth. People tend to help beautiful people first. People tend to choose handsome people to go on dates with. Or organizations tend to choose intelligent people to work with. The biased scores that we all give to each other are just discrimination. But what makes it scary is that even if we choose an intelligent person to work with, he may not be able to do the job as well as we want. But we always find excuses and give him a second or third chance because we have already believed that he will be as intelligent as his appearance.
“Because we look at it and it looks good, we feel good, so we think it’s good.”
The halo effect is a cognitive bias that causes us to view things, actions, or people more favorably than they really are because of their appearance or actions. This bias causes us to fall prey to our own thinking traps. We tend to spend money on beautiful things that are useless because we tend to trust people who look elegant and come to deceive us. We tend to believe the actions of people in front of the camera who look good, even if it is just a well-rehearsed act behind the camera.
“ Halo is a circular radius on the head of an angel.”
The word halo, if translated directly, means a circular radius on the head of an angel. Therefore, it is used to compare people’s behavior when they see something as better than it really is, like putting a circular radius of an angel on his head. This bias is a positive bias that is influenced by the external appearance that we see with the naked eye, causing us to ignore flaws or mistakes in reality, which are things that we face in our daily lives and always cause us mistakes.
“Our biases are illusions.”
Thorndike, an American psychologist, began studying this issue in the 1920s. He found that the distinctive features of anything will always act as an illusion to hide its defects. For example, we choose to work with someone who is well-dressed and dignified rather than someone who wears sloppy clothes, even though he or she is a stuttering or unclear speaker. But we think that it can be fixed. It is strange that we do not think that sloppy clothes are easier to fix than sloppy speech.
“Bias leads to deviation from reality, which can lead to suffering.”
Thorndike conducted an experiment by observing military commanders evaluating their subordinates in various aspects. The conclusion was that the subordinates who were more physically attractive were evaluated more favorably in various aspects than the average soldier. In addition, the study of 155 males and 155 females found that physical appearance had a significant effect on the relationship between men and women. For example, sexiness and good facial features had a greater effect on attracting women than men.
“Bias lead to permanent thought traps.”
The Halo effect is not just a short-term thought phenomenon that enlightens us when we see the truth. It can do more than that. Psychologists say that sometimes it can cause permanent personality traits, such as a belief in a certain person that leads to superstition and is passed on for a long time. Or in some people, they develop distorted personalities because they are influenced by the Halo effect until they eventually forget their true identity.
“Mindfulness is a shield against prejudice.”
Because the occurrence of biases such as the Halo effect can cause us to make mistakes in decision-making or cause us pain in one way or another. What we can do is to be mindful in our decisions. Before judging people, things or actions, be mindful, look at everything from all sides, remind yourself not to get lost in external appearances, and use reason as much as possible in making decisions. Try not to let feelings determine right or wrong.
“Don’t let prejudice hurt you, and don’t use prejudice to hurt anyone.”
It is not just us who suffer from falling into the trap of thinking. Every time we accidentally judge everything by external appearance, there is another person who suffers from being judged as well. The beauty standards that distort society try to push everyone into the trap of these wrong thoughts, molding us to admire each other from the outside while overlooking the true value inside. If we are mindful, we will be able to think. We will be able to distinguish what is superficial and what is the essence.
Conclusion
In today’s Thai society, there is still a lot of contempt and disdain. Many people can’t help but say that the first impression of someone they meet is their appearance. Beauty standards are still used to look at people and judge them on whether they are good-looking or not.
If we continue to allow society to be driven by admiring the beauty of the outer shell, people will overlook to consider the value and will fall into the trap of distorted thinking, leading to wrong decisions. Therefore, making decisions as an intelligent person must rely on principles and reason, cutting out infatuation or first impressions and prejudices. Then we will be able to discover the true value of each other.
“Do not judge a book by its cover.”
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Source:
https://adecco.co.th/th/knowledge-center/detail/halo-effec
https://www.dmh.go.th/news/view.asp?id=1220
