One salient positive trait colours judgement of unrelated traits.
Thorndike's 1920 study found officers rating soldiers on physique also rated them higher on intelligence and leadership. Attractiveness in hiring and courtroom research produces the same spillover.
In practice
- A candidate with a first from a famous university is rated more organised, more collaborative and more likely to stay.
- A well-designed product is assumed to have good support, and the assumption survives the first two unanswered emails.
- Further reading
- Wikipedia
- Subject
- Psychology & Behavior
- Essay
- A century and a half of measuring the mind