Unconscious bias in recruitment has long been a concern, with approximately 89% of managers acknowledging they form quick judgments about candidates within just 15 minutes of an interview.
These immediate impressions can lead to the halo and horn effects, where a single positive or negative trait influences a candidate’s overall evaluation.
These biases are often at the root of unfair hiring practices, prompting a critical examination of how they can significantly impact recruitment outcomes. This blog post covers everything you need to know about these cognitive biases.
What is the halo and horn effect?
The halo effect is the cognitive bias that makes people treat others well based on their first impression.
It was coined by Edward Thorndike, an American psychologist, in the early 1920s. Edward noted that attractive people tend to be perceived as successful and competent.
This unconscious bias, where one aspect of a person makes us view them positively, is what the halo effect is about. Since we see only the best part of a person, their negative traits, like unpunctuality, poor communication skills, etc., are overlooked.
For example, if someone has a very friendly personality (an easy-to-see trait), we might assume they are also good at problem-solving (a more complex trait), even though we don’t have clear evidence.
Though no scientific evidence supports this bias, it is common in the workplace. The halo effect causes 75% of hiring managers to make bad hiring decisions.
The horn effect is a snap judgment where we judge someone negatively because of one bad trait we notice about them.
In such cases, people often overlook a person’s positive attributes and cling to only the negative aspects. Such negative opinions may arise from someone’s attitude, mannerisms, physical appearance, etc.
Example of the halo effect in the workplace
When an employee always submits their reports on time, their manager may assume they are great at everything else, like problem-solving or teamwork, even without seeing proof. This is the halo effect—one positive trait leads to a broader positive view of the person.
Example of horn effect in the workplace
If an employee makes a noticeable mistake in a project, their manager might start believing they could be better at other tasks, even if they perform well in different areas. This is the horn effect—one negative trait creates an unfair perception of the person overall.
Difference between the halo and horn effect
Both halo and horn effects are opposite cognitive biases.
Halo effect:
- A positive impression that makes us treat someone better.
- Attractive people are benefited and privileged.Â
- Negative qualities are overlooked.
Horn effect:
- A negative impression that makes us treat someone worse.
- Individuals outside privileged or attractive groups often face marginalization.
- Their positive qualities as employees are frequently overlooked.
Both are unfair assumptions that lead to quick judgments about potential candidates. If you’re not mindful, this can cause you to hire people similar to you unintentionally.
What causes horn and halo effect?
The real cause of the halo and horn effect is time restraint and limited availability of resources.
Recruitment is a tedious and lengthy process. On average, the hiring process lasts 3-6 weeks, and HR professionals receive at least 500 applications for every position.
Hence, sourcing and screening each candidate is quite time-consuming. Hiring managers and recruiters might have no option but to rely on cognitive bias, leading to the halo and horn effect. Such a reliance on biases might occur at any stage of the hiring process.
Though first impressions can be deceiving, it’s hard to spot when unfair assumptions about a candidate’s negative traits affect hiring decisions. This makes it difficult to assess how the halo and horn effects influence recruitment processes.
How does the horn effect affect hiring decisions?
The horn effect might make it difficult for a deserving candidate to get the job. This could be mainly because of confirmation bias in humans, which is the tendency to keep validating our opinions.
Once you decide about someone, it is quite impossible to change that.
For instance, if a candidate arrives in casual clothing or fails to greet the interviewers properly, the interviewers may perceive them as unprofessional. Though it has nothing to do with the candidate’s skills and abilities, interviewers might not feel the same.
How does the halo effect affect hiring decisions?
The halo effect simplifies how we see things by creating a single, positive image. This helps us avoid conflicting thoughts and leads to consistently judging based on that positive impression.
It might have a negative impact on hiring, especially if you fall victim to the halo effect. You might overestimate someone’s abilities or qualities beyond what they truly deserve.
It’s natural to find reasons to like someone when you have a favorable impression of them. While this can be harmless in many situations, it may result in hiring the wrong candidate in recruitment. And a bad hire costs 30% of the role’s salary.
How does the halo and horn effect impact performance management?
The halo and horn effect can significantly impact performance management by leading managers to assess employees based on a singular trait rather than overall performance.
Managers might completely favor one employee while overlooking and disregarding other employees’ criticism. They might also devise excuses for employees’ bad behavior, even though the candidate is not performing.
The halo effect also leads to special treatment in appraisal rounds.
For example, an employee may receive an inflated performance review due to strong communication skills while neglecting deficiencies in teamwork (halo effect), or conversely, an employee who makes a minor error might be unfairly deemed incompetent (horn effect).
These biases can obstruct professional growth, create distrust within teams, and result in missed opportunities for deserving candidates​.
How to prevent halo and horn effects in recruitment?
Introduce skills-based assessment
The problem with resumes is that people lie. Studies reveal that about 56% of candidates admit to lying in their resumes. Hence, there might be better options than hiring based on resumes. Plus, it can lead to unconscious bias.
For example, as a hiring manager, if you notice that a candidate previously worked at the same company as you, you might subconsciously favor them, creating a halo effect.
This bias can lead to overlooking other candidates’ qualifications and overestimating the familiar candidate’s suitability for the role.
Instead of relying on resumes, you can introduce skills-based assessments, which provide detailed information about your candidate’s competencies.
Testlify is a pre-employment assessment tool that helps with this. It can prevent halo and horn effects and help you hire the right talent.
Use uniform scoring criteria
Ensure the interview is objective, meaning every candidate will be asked the same questions for a particular role. This approach reduces biases by structuring the interview process.
Testlify uses AI-driven auto-grading technology to assess and grade candidates instantly and in real time, streamlining the evaluation process.
Instead of recruiters grading candidates during interviews, having an AI auto-grading system can eliminate unconscious bias.
Include multiple evaluators
Involving multiple evaluators in the hiring process helps counterbalance individual biases that may stem from the halo or horn effect.
When more than one person assesses a candidate, the likelihood of one interviewer’s personal biases dominating the decision diminishes.
This collective evaluation allows for diverse perspectives, providing a more comprehensive assessment of the candidate’s skills and qualifications​.
Provide training to eliminate biases
Providing cognitive bias training to recruiters and hiring managers can greatly reduce the chances of halo and horn effects.
Cognitive bias is based on personal experience and perception rather than logic or probability.
Including cognitive bias training regularly in your team will ensure that you’re constantly improving hiring decisions. Such training is crucial because they tend to overlook candidates from certain backgrounds, hampering diversity in the workplace.
Research indicates that companies with greater gender equality and diversity outperform their competitors, generating 15% to 30% more revenue.
Ask reflective questions to yourself
To avoid biases and the halo and horn effects, regularly ask yourself critical questions when deciding about job candidates or employees.
Questions like, “What do I know for sure about this person?” or “Have I made any assumptions?” can help prevent pre-judging and biases from influencing recruitment or performance evaluations.
These reflective checks encourage objective thinking and ensure decisions are based on facts rather than unconscious bias or first impressions.
Rely on solid data
Develop a strong data plan to spot where certain underrepresented groups might be unfairly rejected in the hiring process.
This information helps take specific steps to make recruitment more inclusive and fair for everyone.
How does the halo and horn effect impact the workplace?
The halo effect can lead to preferential treatment after hiring, where certain employees receive more opportunities for growth, quicker promotions, and lenient evaluations. This bias allows managers to overlook mistakes or negative feedback, which imbalance how performance is judged.
While these favored employees may advance rapidly, it can demotivate others, lowering team morale and productivity. Additionally, biased performance reviews can create resentment among team members.
On the other hand, the horn effect disproportionately affects marginalized individuals, often resulting in fewer opportunities and harsher judgment. This harms workplace diversity and impacts the overall culture by reinforcing unconscious bias, reducing inclusivity, and creating divisions within the workforce.
Poor hiring decisions influenced by these biases can hurt employee productivity, mental health, and retention, as employees may feel undervalued or overlooked.
Best skills-based assessment tool to avoid halo and horn effect
As long as humans interview each other, there is no guarantee that the halo and horn effect will be eradicated for good.
The next best thing any company can do is look for ways to minimize or prevent such scenarios. One way is by integrating skills assessment into its hiring process.
Testlify is the top pre-employment assessment tool to prevent horn and halo effects and make effective hiring decisions.
Instead of relying solely on traditional interviews, implement skills tests by selecting from existing options or creating one using Testlify. Once candidates complete the tests, you’ll receive a comprehensive report detailing their skill levels and competencies.
This process helps eliminate biases and reduces guesswork, enabling you to make more informed decisions and hire the best candidate for the role.