The Halo Effect: Alive and Well in Corporate America

         During my freshmen year, I enrolled in a business course called “Leading Organizations”, which focused on studying the structure of corporate hierarchies and the psychology behind business. While I do not remember everything I learned in that class, I do recall learning about a psychological phenomenon called “the halo effect”. According to the scientist who coined the term, the halo effect refers to the underlying assumptions that individuals make about others based solely on appearance. In the class, we watched a video about two females who were being interviewed for a specific job position. One woman was very well put-together, while the other was made to look disheveled and unattractive. While the uglier candidate had more suitable work experience and leadership qualities, the attractive female got the job. Why?

            When an individual meets someone that is attractive, they assume that other personal qualities of the individual are also attractive. For example, if I met an attractive individual, I would assume they lead a very active lifestyle and have desirable personal qualities (great sense of humor, strong morals, etc…) The reverse halo affect is the assumption that an unattractive person has many other undesirable traits. If I were to interview an individual who looked like he or she had just rolled out of bed, I would make negative assumptions about their personality. Whether or not you believe it to be fair, this is a theory that has been proven by empirical research for many years.

            Thus, it comes as no surprise that I came across a blog post that confirmed this theory. According to “The Juggle”, thin women who work in the business world earn more than fat women who perform the same work. While the research showed the opposite result for males, it appears that corporate America treats women much like the fashion industry does. The research claims thin women make an average of $15,572 more per year than average-sized women, and that there is a direct relationship between gaining weight and pay penalties.

            While obesity continues to be a growing epidemic in the U.S., I find it interesting that the business world rewards females who appear to be healthy. Love it or hate it, the halo effect is here to stay.