Halo Effect and Cognitive Bias: The Impact of Skin Tone and Facial Dominance on Trait Attribution

Abstract

The halo effect, an individuals’ judgment based on specific traits influences them entire impression leading to biased judgment, hasn’t been much explored within south Asian culture. The study explored this cognitive bias, how university student’s attributes traits based on races, skin tone and dominant features. The study sample comprised of 223 university students, age 18-30 years.  We used online survey, participants were asked to rate the 64 photographs of Indian and Western individuals with equal ration of dark and white faces that are more categorized into dominant and non-dominant faces. The findings revealed that participants assigned more positive and less negative attributes to western faces than Indian faces. Indian and western Faces with light skin tones were assigned more positive attributes than Indian and western faces with dark skin tones. Also participants assigned more positive attributes to western with light and dark faces in contrast to Indian with light and dark faces. Furthermore, within dark and light skin tones of both Indians and westerns the participants give more positive attributes to individuals with dominant features than to those with non-dominant faces. In contrast to dark and light skin tone Indians with dominant and non-dominant features, the light and dark skin westerns with dominant and non-dominant features faces are attributed more positive traits and less negative traits. This study concluded that participants attributed more positive traits to western than Indians based on races, skin tones and facial features revealing a cognitive bias in our society.

Keywords: Indians, westerns, positive attributes, dominant features, skin tone