The Halo Effect and Religiosity: Are Attractive People Perceived as More Religious?

A photograph rating study assessed religiosity perceptions relating to the halo effect. The halo effect is a phenomenon describing the tendency that people have to attribute positive characteristics to those possessing other, unrelated positive characteristics. In the preliminary study, subjects from BYU rated the attractiveness of photographs of college-aged men and women. The primary study used the photographs with the highest and lowest attractiveness ratings. Subjects rated them on a scale of perceived religiosity. As hypothesized, attractive females received higher religiosity ratings then unattractive females. Attractive males received higher religiosity ratings than unattractive males. Attractive females received the highest religiosity ratings. This study adds evidence that attractiveness affects the perceptions of religiosity as predicted by the halo effect theory.