Halo Effect The halo effect has to do with judging or evaluating a person, place, or event by a single trait or experience. This overall impression can be good or bad but will prejudice our further involvement with the stimulus. Each of us can remember making a snap judgment about someone based on a first impression. Often we try to perceive further interaction with the individual based on this first impression, regardless of whether it was positive or negative. If this impression is incorrect, it often takes considerable pressure to concede this fact and break the halo effect. Examples are plentiful in business. A plush office convinces us someone is an important person in the organization and must be taken seriously. A sloppily typed letter by our new secretary proves to us the individual is going to be an unsatisfactory employee. The halo effect often shows up most conspicuously on performance appraisals where our overall good or bad opinion of the workers interferes with our ability to evaluate weaknesses or strengths accurately on individual job functions.