Horn Effect: This Is How Our Negative Prejudices Act
Human beings are imperfect. Due to the biological inheritance of our most primitive ancestors, people conceive an image or first impression of others in a matter of seconds.
This phenomenon is attributed to the speed and agility that the brain has in deciding and acting as appropriate. Good, The Horn effect is something similar: It turns out to be a tendency to form a negative opinion of someone based on just a simple and not very thorough observation.
Before delving fully into the technical definition of what the Horn effect entails, we have to understand something fundamental about human behavior. We are social beings, we need acceptance from others and make a good impression We can’t help it, we always want to be part of an identity, a group.
As a common practice, in the same way that we intentionally give one image or another, we also give our opinion about others. We constantly prejudge, and we do it in a pessimistic way and many others in an optimistic way. Let’s see below what what has been said so far translates into.
What is the Horn effect?
The Horn Effect It is everything antagonistic to the Halo effect The latter consists of generating a favorable opinion about a person as a whole, based on the observation of a single characteristic that defines them: normally, their physical appearance. We construct a fictitious mental schema based on very limited information.
On the contrary, the Horn effect simplifies the perception of what is observed from attention focused on the negative. When we join a soccer team, we pay attention to the harangue that the coach reproduces. Depending on the tone, gesticulation and vocabulary used, we will think that he is a serious person, with a tendency to a state of tension and anger. Once the session is over, it turns out that he offers us transportation to his home and we have a pleasant chat with him. One more time, the psychological mold that we had set up breaks
In a somewhat summary way, both the Halo effect and the Horn effect They are biased and subjective visions that have been analyzed by our cognitive abilities Selective attention to the features we focus on is also part of this process. Sometimes, we insist on continuing to draw a bad (or good) image of that person to maintain our pre-established beliefs.
In the labor market…
We live in a time in which everything counts, every detail adds or subtracts, every word denigrates or flatters, and in the world of work this is a very dangerous trend. Especially when it comes to selecting personnel According to statistical data, 80% of new candidates do not successfully pass the personal interview.
There are many times that we go to a job interview, with the more than adequate profile, fulfilling one hundred percent all the requirements demanded by the job offer, and we return home disappointed and without having accessed the position. Both for better and for worse, the Horn effect has a terrible impact on the selection processes of candidates looking for a new professional opportunity.
According to a study revealed by the economic newspaper Expansión, more than 80% of potential applicants for a new job position waste time submitting resumes or attending interviews called by companies. Managers or those responsible for Human Resources They do not spend more than 1 minute reading the CV or, in many cases, they throw away half of them lack of time. They look at the minimum, and form an opinion from very little data.
Some guidelines to avoid the Horn effect
To begin with, we have to insist on the idea that it will be practically impossible to avoid making value judgments about others. We are human beings, and it is a completely natural tendency. However, below you will find some recommendations to follow to avoid this behavior as much as possible.
1. Self-analysis
When we find ourselves immersed in a first-sight analysis of a person we have just met, and we realize the aspects that we highlight, we will have to take stock. If we focus too much on the negative, we will have to look for the positive, and vice versa. Only in this way will we get closer to a better perception of what we observe
2. Be patient and avoid haste
We always hurry with everything. We live in a time when everything happens very quickly, anything is instantaneous and consumption is immediate. That also happens on a human level. You have to give yourself time, interact more with that person and then evaluate their personality.
3. Don’t trust first impressions
The Horn effect responds, as it could not be otherwise, to a first impression. This point is correlated with the previous one. dWe must insist on seeking more experiences with that person of which we have a bad personal relationship. Maybe one is one way at work, and another diametrically opposite way in social life.
In some situations we are a group or duo of people who meet another person or others at a certain time. A highly recommended tip is to exchange opinions with your partner It is surprising to see how different ways of analyzing the elements radically vary value judgments.
