What is the Horn effect?

The Horn effect is what makes us prejudging a person by attributing negative qualities in a general way based on another known quality (Ex: we tend to think that beautiful people are also kind and generous). This effect would be one of the aspects of the halo effect, which would represent that tendency or inclination to attribute characteristics to a person based on another that we already know.

This effect plays an important role, for example, in the selection process for a job. In this sense, The Horn effect can cause the recruiter to make inferences that do not correspond to reality and based on them decide. Furthermore, this distorted vision will increase the risk of choosing unsuitable candidates and discarding those who are optimal.

The beginnings of the Horn effect

The psychologist Edward L. Thorndike was the one who discovered this curious effectaround the year 1920. This psychologist was researching the army and realized that as soon as soldiers discovered something good in their superiors, they automatically began to attribute other positive traits to them. Likewise, if the first thing they observed was something bad, the superior in question would be negatively prejudged by his subordinates. This is how the Horn effect arose.

Years later, researchers Nisbett and Wilson, from the University of Michigan, divided 118 students into two groups. Both groups were made to watch a video in which the same teacher appeared. In one of the tapes, the teacher was friendly, while in the other he was unfriendly and authoritarian.

After viewing, the students described the teacher’s appearance and, curiously, those who watched the video with the teacher in a friendly manner described him as an attractive man. On the other hand, the other group described the teacher as someone with an unattractive appearance.

This interesting experiment was able to demonstrate how the perception of the other person affects our judgment to unsuspected limits. Besides, other interesting fact about the Horn effect is that, once we attribute a trait it is very difficult to reverse the process. If the first traits we appreciate in a person are positive, it is easier for us to ignore the negative ones; the same thing happens the other way around.

The Horn effect in a job selection process

As we have commented, The Horn effect can cause us to grant multiple negative qualities to a person based on a single initial prejudice. This can be dangerous in a selection process, since it would cause the interviewer to discard suitable candidates in favor of others who are less prepared, but who have made a better initial impression.

How to avoid the Horn effect in personnel selection

In order to be aware of the risk of the Horn effect and avoid it when carrying out a selection process, We can follow the following guidelines:

Keep alert: We have already taken the first step. We know that the effect exists and can influence our judgment in important ways. In this sense, let’s assume that we all have prejudices (we generate and adopt them), but the important thing is to know how to identify them and not let them distort our reality. In short, we have to be alert to the emotional reactions we may have during a selection process and put them aside in favor of a more professional behavior.Structure the interviews: A job interview is a very important moment to avoid getting carried away by false impressions. Especially in the first minutes, we must be very attentive to any negative reaction that any characteristics of the candidate may provoke in us and we must analyze each person objectively.

On the other hand, structuring interviews can help us be more objective. In this sense, we can begin by making the skills required for a job very clear. The objective will be design an interview that analyzes the candidates’ ability to overcome possible challenges and classifies each one’s competencies according to their importance for the position.

With these ideas, we can be more aware of the risks of the Horn effect in our daily lives and especially during a selection process. So, We will be more objective in recruiting personnel, which will have a greater benefit for our company in the long term.

On the other hand, if we are candidates for a position, we can also use it to our advantage, starting with orient our responses or our presentation towards achievements that highlight our best qualities. On the other hand, knowing the influence of this effect, we can also control it in our daily lives when we are introduced to a person, trying to ensure that prejudices do not deprive us of relationships that can be very positive.

Edit note: In the literature we can find the halo effect defined as an attribution in both positive and negative terms and also as the opposite of the Horn effect, that is, as attributions that are made only in the positive.

You might be interested…