The Horn Effect: How first impressions play a crucial role on further analysis

We’ve all heard the following phrase somewhere in some way, shape or form: “First impressions define us; they are the most important interaction of all interactions”. While I too initially dismissed it as just another persuasive tactic to coax me into perfectionism and good grooming habits, the more I studied psychology, the more I believed in it. Social psychology is a huge branch of human psychology, and I would argue it is the most important branch. So, when I first heard about the Horn effect, I realized my parents were right (I wish I could add ‘as always’, but like most offspring, I did not come with the ‘perfect child’ chip installed).

So, what is the Horn Effect? The Horn effect is simply a cognitive bias where a single negative trait influences our entire perception of a person, brand, or idea. Let’s take a quick example. A person you’re meeting for the first time happens to be late to a meeting. Naturally, your mind gravitates towards assuming they are irresponsible, careless, or unprofessional. They could have had a flat tire, or simply didn’t know the building well enough to locate the room quickly. If you put two and two together, you will see how closely this resembles Fundamental Attribution Error. The real problem, though, with the Horn effect is even if they later prove to be competent and hardworking, your first impression sticks, and you may interpret their future actions more negatively than you would for someone else. Again, first impressions certainly define you, at least to some extent.

The researcher behind this is Edward Thorndike. If there’s 10 most important psychologists in the 20th century you must know regardless of who you are, he is probably one of them. His work in social psychology is unparalleled, and he found both the Horn and Halo effect. For clarification, the Halo Effect is the exact opposite of the Horn Effect. The research goes like this: Thorndike asked military officers to rate their subordinates on traits like leadership and intelligence. He found that if an officer had a negative impression of a soldier in one area, they tended to rate them poorly in all other areas, even when there was no evidence supporting that conclusion. 

This is found commonly in hiring practices these days. If you stumble on the first question or are partially weak in one area or even something as simple as shoe laces are not tied properly, you may be rejected despite being excellent overall and maybe even a good fit for the job. Another place this happens is big companies. If a company makes one major public mistake, consumers may permanently distrust them, regardless of their future improvements. This is why many tech companies do expensive and extensive R&D before rolling out a product: one major bug is all it takes to doom that company forever.

The most used solution to this bias is to give a second chance. The person might have made a bad first impression but that’s all right. Give them one more chance to prove their mettle. Give them one chance to show who they are.