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It has been shown that in interpersonal relationships, people considered attractive are liked more than others, all other things being equal (Hatfield and Sprencher, 1986). One reason for this is the halo effect (Sears, Peplau and Taylor, 1991). The halo effect is the tendency to assume that a person that has one good quality will ...

It has been shown that in interpersonal relationships, people considered attractive are liked more than others, all other things being equal (Hatfield and Sprencher, 1986).

One reason for this is the halo effect (Sears, Peplau and Taylor, 1991). The halo effect is the tendency to assume that a person that has one good quality will also have other good qualities. E.g., a person who is perceived as handsome may be assumed to have higher occupational status or better personality than a person who is less attractive.

There has been a protracted debate on just how far this halo effect for physical attractiveness goes and which traits that are affected the most. However, the halo effect for physical attractiveness has been shown to generalise to a number of areas quite irrelevant to physical beauty.

For example, adults reacted more leniently to bad behaviour performed by an attractive child than when performed by an unattractive child (Dion, 1972). Teachers evaluated cute children as being brighter than unattractive children with identical academic records (Clifford and Walster, 1973). Attractive defendants get lighter sentences than do unattractive defendants in mock jury studies, for exactly the same crime (Sears et al., 1991).

It appears that not only do we judge attractive people in more desirable ways, but these opinions based on the first, attractive impression of a person tend to last even when we are presented with evidence that is in conflict with our positive judgements (Sears et al., 1991).

Learn more at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halo_effect