Ever heard of this? I came across this the other word, and of course stopped to read - not least as I like the word 'halo' so much.
It's not really a surprising concept, but one worth reminding ourselves of. It was coined by Edward Thorndike, a psychologist who first wrote about it in 1920. It describes a cognitive bias in which our overall impression of a person influences how we feel and think about their character. So, if you think somebody is nice, you are more likely to also think he/she is smart/reliable/trustworthy etc. Quite commonly, this happens with people who we find attractive. And vice versa, it can of course work in our favour for example at a job interview: we make an overall pleasant impression and the potential employer is probably more likely to feel that we are also competent and capable for the job in question.
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