Horn Effect
The horn effect is the tendency for one negative impression of a person to darken your judgment of their other, unrelated qualities — the halo effect running in reverse.
Full definition of Horn Effect →:: COMPARE ::
Horn effectvsHalo effect
The short answer
Two names for one contamination, with very different evidential standing. Halo: one positive trait inflates unrelated judgments, supported by a century of work. Horn: the same thing negatively, largely inferred from the halo rather than independently demonstrated.
Side by side
| Aspect | Horn effect | Halo effect |
|---|---|---|
| Sign | Negative | Positive |
| Founding paper | None | Thorndike, 1920 |
| Replication | Weak | Extensive |
| Mechanism | Same | Same |
What each one means
Halo Effect
The halo effect is the tendency for one overall impression of a person or thing to bleed into your ratings of their specific, unrelated qualities — so someone judged good in general gets judged good at everything.
Full definition of Halo Effect →