Just have a look at this Spanish newspaper column which refers to what we discussed in class last monday (16/05) about the social value of beauty in forming first impressions -remember S. Asch (1950)-. It is confirmed that beauty acts as a central trait to develop good images of the person-to-know becacuse it is cognitively linked in halo effect to other positive traits such as intelligence and cleanliness.
In my opinion, this is due to the ''halo effect''. In the case above, if this politician is perceived as handsome, people may think he is also intelligent and a good leader.
ReplyDeleteIt also has been proved that politicians who had been well-known before going into politics, as former actors or athletes, will be thought to be good leaders, just because people had liked their movies or they had won a medal. We just have to remember that real-life Terminator was once California's Governor.
Therefore, it is very important for a politician to enhance their image. Who knows, if he is thought to be handsome and looks friendly, maybe millions of people will vote him, even though he has no idea of politics.
Irina Nogales, 1º A
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ReplyDeleteI agree with you, Irina. I think that exploiting the Halo effect is nowadays very present in our society, not only in Politics, but also in the business area. To put an example, Apple has learned to give a very "clean" image, which resulted in higher sales; however, apple is one of the businesses that throws their garbage in less developed countries of Africa, like Ghana.
ReplyDeleteLucas Castillo, 1º A
I think it is terrible that corporations like Apple, as Lucas said, or politicians take advantage of this effect, which normal people do not know anything about. Maybe this could be solved if more people knew about the halo effect, so they can become aware of how powerful (and sometimes dangerous) a positive image can be.
ReplyDeleteIrina Nogales Groiss (1º A, 2013)
First all of I have to say that I agree with them, Halo effect has makes us to create a complete image base on few characteristics. However, talking about voting a politician due to his physical appearance, in my opinion, is a fact totally related with the era in which we are living, where physical characteristic are highly appreciate, unfortunately more than intellectual qualities and skills.
ReplyDeleteIrene 1ºA
Irene, very good point! What do you think about the impact of the physical appearance stereotypes on digestive disorders like anorexia or bulimia?
ReplyDeleteLucas Castillo, 1º A
Eating disorders has an ancient historical back-ground (Romans used to induce vomit after large feast, their only meal a day, in order to continue eating). But it is alarming the massive epidemic that a great percentage of population is suffering from; of course it is the result of an extra slim standard body. I have one question; Do you think beauty and body canon along history are against population life-style?
ReplyDeleteInteresting fact about the romans! I didn't know they did that...
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that the main reason for those disorders is the result of an extra slim standard body that we see everywhere nowadays. On your question, I think that population has always seen beauty on what was different to the majority: centuries ago, fat women were considered beautiful because, contrary to most people, they could eat as much as they wanted, which was a sign of wealth.
Do you think that the beauty standards could change again in the future and go back to the one's of fatness as a sign of wealth and beauty?
Lucas Castillo, 1º A
Everything is possible; our comfortable life style can change, and as a result our alimentary habit too. Stereotypes follows modes rule; every tend come back at least once more.
ReplyDeleteI think that society judges people and things by appearances and we act guided by this impression without taking into account the features that appear after a period of time interacting with this person or object. This fact can produce the decrease of the effectiveness of the group.
ReplyDeleteSoledad Fernández Cuenca (1º A, 2013)
I agree with Irina, but I think is not as important the "beauty" of the politician as the charisma that he has. We must not forget that behind a politician there is a group that really takes the decision. Hence, the politician that we can see in the TV is only the face of the team and as I see it, is more important how we tell the new laws, for example, that is he is really handsome or not. Halo effect is important for our society but the point is how we manage it.
ReplyDeleteI recommend all of you to see this. I was just watching it and thought about this post. It's a documentary about non verbal communication of politicians and people exposed to the media. I hope you like it!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=AQENwD-QlRA#at=65
Irina Nogales (1º A, 2013)
What an interesting video, Irina. I'll pass it on to other people. Maybe a little bit long.
ReplyDeleteAs Sole said, biased first impressions can reduce the effectiveness of the group because they diminish cohesion. That is one of the advantages of e-groups, I think.
Lucas Castillo, 1º A
A good example for this article can be the incredible popularity of the president Barack Obama. As Elena said, it is probably because of his charisma that people believe in him and actually think that he is kind of a hero. I think it is a good example for Halo Effect (obama has actually fan groups around the world)
ReplyDeleteNicolás Castillón 1º A 2013