A term to describe the misconception that cannabis and cannabis-based products are harmless and free of side effects because cannabis is a “natural plant”. Many drug molecules come from plants and have been shown to be both beneficial and harmful (eg, digitalis from the foxglove plant, the nicotine from tobacco plant). FDA has recognized (or acknowledged) this phenomenon.

This effect doesn’t just affect our perceptions of people based on their attractiveness. It can also encompass other traits as well. People who are sociable or kind, for example, may also be seen as more likable and intelligent. The halo effect makes it so that perceptions of one quality lead to biased judgments of other qualities.

The term itself uses the analogy of a halo to describe how it can affect perceptions. In religious art, a halo is often portrayed over a saint’s head, bathing the individual in a heavenly light to show that that person is good.

When you see someone through the lens of the halo effect, you are seeing them cast in a similar light. That “halo” created by your perception of one characteristic covers them in the same way.

Psychologist Edward Thorndike first coined the term in a 1920 paper titled “The Constant Error in Psychological Ratings.” In the experiment described in the paper, Thorndike asked commanding officers in the military to evaluate a variety of qualities in their subordinate soldiers. These characteristics included such things as leadership, physical appearance, intelligence, loyalty, and dependability.

Thorndike’s goal was to determine how ratings of one quality bled over to assessments of other characteristics. He found that high ratings of a particular quality correlated to high ratings of other characteristics, while negative ratings of a specific quality also led to lower ratings of other characteristics.

“The correlations were too high and too even,” Thorndike wrote. “For example, for the three raters next studied the average correlation for physique with intelligence is .31; for physique with leadership, .39; and for physique with character, .28.”

So why do our overall impressions of a person create this halo that influences our evaluations of specific traits?

Researchers have found that attractiveness is one factor that can play a role.

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CBD Cannabis Halo Effect