(Source)

The word "halo" traces back through Latin to the Greek halos, meaning "a ring of light." And that's still exactly what a halo is! It might be circling the moon or the sun, or the head of an angel, giving a glow of holiness or purity. 

Halos provided the perfect metaphor for the psychologist Edward Thorndike, who in 1920 published a paper discussing the evidence for how we tend to give others halos: that is, when judging someone, we tend to let one good quality (like a strong "physique") shine a light on his unrelated qualities (like "professional knowledge"), ultimately leading to unrealistic judgments of that person's entire character. As Thorndike wrote, "A halo of general merit is extended to influence the rating for the special ability, or vice versa."

In that paper, Thorndike just used the word "halo" and not "halo effect," but by 1938, "halo effect" caught on with other psychologists.

To sum that up, a halo effect is the "glow of holy light" around something or someone that makes other people biased in their favor.

In other words, if you already have a good impression of someone or something, or you notice one good thing about them, you might assume that everything else is good about them. If so, you're experiencing the halo effect.

Part of speech:

Noun, the countable kind: "His charm casts a halo effect on his schoolwork."

Other common forms: 

Just the plural, "halo effects."

how to use it:

"Halo effect" is semi-common and easy to understand, with a scientific tone.

It's handy whenever you're looking critically at the factors that influence people's decisions, especially when it comes to personal impressions ("She's gorgeous, so she must also be smart and kind") and product marketing ("It says here it's got no high fructose corn syrup, so it must be really healthy").

In cases like those, you could talk about people or products casting or causing a halo effect; or, you could talk about people experiencing the halo effect, or falling prey to it.

examples:

"[Successes in AI and machine learning] have created an AI halo effect that gives a reflected shine to any tech company that invokes the concept of artificial intelligence. This, in turn, can lead to breathless coverage that inflates the significance of what is often, at heart, just data analytics, or a Wi-Fi connection." 
 — James Vincent, The Verge, 4 January 2017

"[Franklin D. Roosevelt's] energetic optimism created so strong an image that it spilled over to the future, creating what Thomas Cronin has called the Textbook Presidency, 'The idealized view of the Roosevelt years — a halo effect that characterizes most of the recent treatments of the Presidency.'"
   — Staff, New York Times, 30 January 1982

has this page helped you understand "halo effect"?

Awesome, I'm glad it helped!

Thanks for letting me know!
If you have any questions about this term, please message me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.

study it:

Explain the meaning of "halo effect" without saying "overgeneralized goodness" or "positive observation bias."

try it out:

In The Age of Magical Overthinking (2024), Amanda Montell noted:

"About 30 percent of adolescents aspire to emulate a media figure, like their favorite singer or athlete. A 2021 study... measured that celebrity worship had increased dramatically since two decades prior. The halo effect already makes it easy to deify someone you know in real life... It's even easier to engage in such infatuation from afar."

Talk about what she means: why is it easy to be influenced by the halo effect around celebrities or other media figures? In your opinion, is this halo effect generally good or bad for society, or is it a mix?

If you like, use this space to write. (To save your work, copy and paste it into an email or a document.)

before you review, play:

Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.

Our game for April: Word Choice Chuckles!

I'll give you a snippet of text that I spotted in the wild, with a word or phrase removed. See if you can fill one in that'll give the reader a chuckle. (Here are some examples.) Be cheesy. Be punny. Get in there and make me proud.

Try this one today:

"Meteor-Watching Excursion Gets _____ for the Wrong Reason." 
 — Abigail Van Buren, Dear Abby, 4 January 2025

Meaning of the missing word: "emotional."

To see one possible answer, scroll all the way down.

review this term:

1. The opposite of the HALO EFFECT is

A. the HOT STOVE EFFECT: a tendency to avoid an action that hurt you in the past.
B. the HORN EFFECT: a devilish aura around someone or something that makes you biased against it.
C. the IKEA EFFECT: an inflated sense of the value of furniture and other things that you had to assemble yourself.

2. A film might cast the halo effect when it _____.

A. stars an unknown lead
B. wins an Academy Award
C. comes with an R rating

Answers to the review questions: 1. B 2. B From the game: "Meteor-Watching Excursion Gets Fiery for the Wrong Reason."   — Abigail Van Buren, Dear Abby, 4 January 2025

a final word:

I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love. I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words. From my blog: On vocabulary...       36 ways to study words.       Why we forget words, & how to remember them.       How to use sophisticated words without being awkward. On writing...       How to improve any sentence.       How to motivate our kids to write.       How to stop procrastinating and start writing.       How to bulk up your writing when you have to meet a word count. From my heart: a profound thanks to the generous patrons, donors, and sponsors that make it possible for me to write these emails. If you'd like to be a patron or a donor, please click here. If you'd like to be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com. A disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.