A bias is a prejudice that generally unfavorably supports or opposes one thing, person, or organization over another. Individuals, groups, and institutions can all have biases, which can have bad or good outcomes, and most of the focus surrounding the Halo and the Horn effect. The present article set out to analyze the existing literature on the bias, the Halo effect, and the Horn effect. Guided by the PRISMA Statement (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses) review method, a systematic review of the Scopus databases, ERIC, JSTOR, and Emerald Insight identified 17 linked studies.
Further review of these articles resulted in six main themes: Teachers and teaching, students’ tasks, Management, crime, Psychology, and raters. These six themes further produced a total of 30 sub-themes. Several recommendations are highlighted related to conducting more mixed-method studies, having a specific and standard systematic review method for guide Research Synthesis in bias, the Halo and the Horn effect, and practicing complementary searching techniques such as citation tracking, reference searching, snowballing, and contacting experts.
Behrmann, L. (2019). The Halo effect as a teaching tool for fostering research-based learning. European Journal of Educational Research, 8(2), 433–441. https://doi.org/10.12973/eu-jer.8.2.433
Bijani, H. (2018). Investigating the validity of oral assessment rater training program: A mixed-methods study of raters’ perceptions and attitudes before and after training. Cogent Education, 5(1), 1-20. https://doi.org/10.1080/2331186X.2018.1460901
Brown, A., Inceoglu, I., & Lin, Y. (2017). Preventing Rater Biases in 360-Degree Feedback by Forcing Choice. Organizational Research Methods, 20(1), 121–148. https://doi.org/10.1177/1094428116668036
Chantal, Y., Bernache-Assollant, I., & Schiano-Lomoriello, S. (2013). Examining a negative Halo effect to anabolic steroids users through perceived achievement goals, sports personship orientations, and aggressive tendencies. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 54(2), 173–177.
Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD). (2015). Championing better work and working [Annual Review] p.p 20-28. https://www.cipd.co.uk/Images/annual-review_2014-15_tcm18-11771.pdf
Cantarelli, P., Belle, N., & Belardinelli, P. (2020). Behavioral Public HR: Experimental Evidence on Cognitive Biases and Debiasing Interventions. Review of Public Personnel Administration, 40(1), 56–81. https://doi.org/10.1177/0734371X18778090
Dompnier, B., Pansu, P., & Bressoux, P. (2006). An integrative model of scholastic judgments: Pupils’ characteristics, class context, Halo effect and internal attributions. European Journal of Psychology of Education, 21(2), 119-133. doi:10.1007/BF03173572
Ehrlinger, J., Gilovich, T., & Ross, L. (2005), “Peering into the bias blind spot: people’s assessments of bias in themselves and others”, Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 31 (5), 680-692.
Forgas, J. P., & Laham, S. M. (2017). Halo effects. In R. F. Pohl (Ed.), Cognitive illusions: Intriguing phenomena in judgement, thinking and memory (2nd ed., pp. 276–290). New York, NY: Psychology Press
Gest, F. S. D. (2006). Teacher reports of children’s friendships and social groups: Agreement with peer reports and implications for studying peer similarity. Social Development, 15, 248-259. doi:10.1046/j.1467-9507.2006.00339.x
Gibson, J. L., & Gore, J. S. (2015). You’re OK until you misbehave: How norm violations magnify the attractiveness devil effect. Gender Issues, 32(4), 266–278. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12147-015-9142-5
Graf, M., & Unkelbach, C. (2016). Halo effects in trait assessment depend on information valence: Why being honest makes you industrious, but lying does not make you lazy. Pers Soc Psychol Bull. 42(3):290-310. doi: 10.1177/0146167215627137. Epub 2016 Jan 25. PMID: 26811437.
Gotzsche, P. C. (2012). Content area experts as authors: helpful or harmful for systematic reviews and meta-analyses? BMJ 2012 (345), e7031
Gweon, G., Jun, S., Finger, S., & Rose, C. P. (2017). Towards effective group work assessment: even what you don’t see can bias you. International Journal of Technology and Design Education, 27(1), 165–180. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10798-015-9332-1
Horsley, T., Dingwall, O., & Sampson, M. (2011). Examining reference lists to find relevant studies for systematic reviews. http://www.cochrane.org/ MR000026/METHOD_examining-reference-lists-to-find-relevant-studies-for-systematic-reviews.
Jackson, D. A., & King, A. R. (2004). Gender differences in the effects of oppositional behavior on teacher ratings of ADHD symptoms. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 32(2), 215–224. https://doi.org/10.1023/B:JACP.0000019772.71251.ff
Jansen, T., Vogelin, C., Machts, N., Keller, S., & Moller, J. (2021). Don’t just judge the spelling! the influence of spelling on assessing second-language student essays. Frontline Learning Research, 9(1), 44–65. https://doi.org/10.14786/flr.v9i1.541
Jones, E., & Bergin, C. (2019). Evaluating Teacher Effectiveness Using Classroom Observations: A Rasch Analysis of the Rater Effects of Principals. Educational Assessment, 24(2), 91–118. https://doi.org/10.1080/10627197.2018.1564272
Kahneman, J. D. (2011). Thinking, fast and slow. London: Allen Lane.
Landy, D., & Sigall, H. (1974). Beauty is talent: Task evaluation as a function of the performer’s physical attractiveness. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 29(3), 299-304. https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1974-25236-001
Marono, A., & Bartels, R. M. (2020). Examining the judgments of pedophiles in relation to a non-sexual offense. Psychology, Crime and Law, 26(9), 887–901. https://doi.org/10.1080/1068316X.2020.1742339
Marucci, E., Oldenburg, B., Barrera, D., Cillessen, A. H. N., Hendrickx, M., & Veenstra, R. (2021). Halo and association effects: Cognitive biases in teacher attunement to peer-nominated bullies, victims, and prosocial students. Social Development, 30(1), 187–204. https://doi.org/10.1111/sode.12455
Matlock, D. D., Jones, J., Nowels, C. T., Jenkins, A., Allen, L. A., & Kutner, J. S. (2017). Evidence of Cognitive Bias in Decision Making Around Implantable-Cardioverter Defibrillators: A Qualitative Framework Analysis. Journal of Cardiac Failure, 23(11), 794–799. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cardfail.2017.03.008
Myford, C. M., & Wolfe, E. W. (2004). Detecting and measuring rater effects using many-facet Rasch measurement: Part II. Journal of Applied Measurement, 5(2), 189–227.
Nisbett, R. E., & Wilson, T. D. (1977). The Halo effect: Evidence for unconscious alteration of judgments. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 35, 250–256.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/232501672_The_Halo_Effect_Evidence_for_Unconscious_Alteration_of_Judgments
Nufer, G. (2019). “Say hello to Halo”: The Halo effect in sports. Innovative Marketing, 15(3), 116–129. https://doi.org/10.21511/im.15(3).2019.09
Page, M. J., McKenzie, J. E., Bossuyt, P. M., Boutron, I., Hoffmann, T. C., Mulrow, C. D., Shamseer, L., Tetzlaff, J. M., Akl, E. A., Brennan, S. E., Chou, R., Glanville, J., Grimshaw, J. M., Hrobjartsson, A., Lalu, M. M., Li, T., Loder, E. W., Mayo-Wilson, E., McDonald, S., McGuinness, L. A., Stewart, L. A., Thomas, J., Tricco, A. C., Welch, V. A., Whiting, P., & Moher, D. (2021). The PRISMA 2020 statement: an updated guideline for reporting systematic reviews. Systematic Reviews,10 (89), 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13643-021-01626-4
Rego, A., Vitoria, A., Tupinamba, A., Junior, D. R., Reis, D., Cunha, M. P., & Lourenço-Gil, R. (2018). Brazilian managers’ ageism: a multiplex perspective. International Journal of Manpower, 39(3), 414–433. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJM-09-2016-0167
Roelofs, S., Boleij, H., Nordquist, R. E., & Van der Staay, F. J. (2016). Making decisions under ambiguity: Judgment bias tasks for assessing emotional state in animals. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, 10 (119), 1-16. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/303867370_Making_Decisions_under_Ambiguity_Judgment_Bias_Tasks_for_Assessing_Emotional_State_in_Animals
Ross, L. (1977). The intuitive psychologist and his shortcomings: Distortions in the attribution process. In L. Berkowitz (Ed.), Advances in experimental social psychology (pp.173–220). New York: Academic Press.
Sheppard, B. (2019). Checking Your Analytic Performance Rubrics for a Halo Effect. ORTESOL Journal, 36, 28–33. ERIC - EJ1219915 - Checking Your Analytic Performance Rubrics for a Halo Effect, ORTESOL Journal, 2019 (ed.gov)
Shifrer, D. (2013). Stigma of a label: Educational expectations for high school students labeled with learning disabilities. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 54(4), 462–480. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0022146513503346
Shorten, A., & Smith, J. (2017). Mixed methods research: expanding the evidence base. Evidence-Based Nursing 20, 74-75.
Sonnert, G., Hazari, Z., & Sadler, P. M. (2018). Evaluating the quality of middle school mathematics teachers, using videos rated by college students. Studies in Educational Evaluation, 58(May), 60–69. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.stueduc.2018.05.006
Steglich, C., & Knecht, A. (2014). Studious by association? Effects of teachers’ attunement to students’ peer relations. Zeitschrift für Erziehungswissenschaft, 17(S5), 153-170. doi:10.1007/s11618-014-0556-
Sutu, A., Serrano, S., Schultz, L. H., Jackson, J. J., & Damian, R. I. (2019). Creating Through Deviancy or Adjustment? The Link between Personality Profile Normativeness and Creativity. European Journal of Personality, 33(5), 565–588. https://doi.org/10.1002/per.2215
Tariq, M., Govaerts, M., Afzal, A. Ali, S. A., & Zehra, T. (2020). Ratings of performance in multisource feedback: comparing performance theories of residents and nurses. BMC Med Educ. 20, 355 https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-020-02276-1
Thorndike, E. L. (1920). A constant error in psychological ratings. Journal of Applied Psychology, 4, 25-29. (PDF) A constant error in psychological ratings. (1920) | E.L. Thorndike | 1572 Citations (typeset.io)
Tsafnat, G., Glasziou, P., Choong, M. K., Dunn, A., Galgani, F., & Coiera, E. (2014). Systematic review automation technology. Systematic Review 9 (3), 74. Systematic review automation technologies - PubMed (nih.gov)
Wright, K., Golder, S., & Rodriguez-Lopez, R. (2014). Citation searching: a systematic review case study of multiple risk behaviour interventions. BMC Medical Research Methodology 14(73), 1–8. https://bmcmedresmethodol.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1471-2288-14-73
Xu, S., Martinez, L., & Smith, N. A. (2020). The effects of attractiveness, gender and self-esteem in service jobs. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 32(1), 249–266. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCHM-02-2019-0127
Yilmaz, F. (2017). Analysis of the rater effects in the rating of diagnostic trees prepared by teacher candidates by the Many-Facet Rasch Model. Journal of Education and Practice, 8(18), 174–184. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/333162837
