The Blinding Impact of the Halo Effect in Christian Institutions
“How did we not see it?”
That’s the question many people ask after experiencing a church scandal. Honestly, this is a question many people ask after betrayal-no matter the brand. It is human tendency to go back, and with the gift of hindsight, see all of the red flags you missed. All of the ways you didn’t see what was right in front of you.
While it is often unhelpful to spiral into guilt or shame over what you didn’t see, it may be helpful for all of us to look at the patterns. This is especially true when it comes to toxicity and abuse that is happening within Christian Institutions.
There are many reasons we may be blinded to abuse happening in front of us, or even to us, but there is one cognitive bias that I believe plays a starring role–the halo effect. Not only do I believe it has a dramatic impact within each organization, I also wonder if there is any institution in which the halo effect is quite as blinding as the church.
What is the halo effect?
The halo effect is a cognitive bias that claims that positive impressions of people, brands, and products in one area positively influence our feelings in another area.
A few examples of this include:
When a person is attractive and therefore also seen as trustworthy, competent or good.
When a brand creates one good product so you perceive all of their products to be the best.
When your first impression of a person is good and you then perceive all of their following behavior as good.
Now, all of these examples of how the halo effect operates can be seen in the church. It’s no secret that many of the most influential preachers, speakers, and Christian thought leaders are also conventionally attractive. This is almost a prerequisite for success if you are a female.
We also see this when churches do one thing really well and then we judge the rest of their ministries based on that success. Looking at you Hillsong.
Even on the personal level we will sometimes trust church leadership based on a good first impression.
While all of these examples of how the halo effect could operate within churches, I wonder if church processes and the Church itself functions as a halo. For instance, every time a preacher stands on stage and gives a good sermon they are providing another reminder of their goodness (most of the time). Being a church leader often involves other practices such as volunteering, shepherding people through grief, or providing leadership in ways that make us perceive them as good. Of course, those actions are good and are still possible to do even while lacking personal integrity. Not to mention just being a church leader or Christian serves as its own kind of halo making us all believe in their goodness.
Any time we talk about leaders who have moral failures or are caught up in scandals it feels important to note that there is a difference between people who are predators or abuse others and people who struggle for a season and make mistakes. While these groups may be different, the halo effect can operate the same way, blinding us to a person who lacks integrity and blinding us to the warning signs that someone is struggling.
So, what do we do?
I’m not really sure how to completely inoculate against the halo effect in our churches. After all, we need teachers and leaders. We can absolutely work to dismantle the celebrity Christian culture, but let’s be honest, we probably wouldn’t get very far. The good news is that according to research, there are ways to avoid falling prey to the halo effect.
Awareness
Just reading this article and learning about the effect will help you be on guard against it. Being aware we may exaggerate a person’s goodness based on their charm, attractiveness or goodness in one area can help us see more clearly.
Slow down our thinking and feeling.
As someone who knew about the halo effect before being blinded by it, awareness is not enough. It is essential that we slow down how we think about people and our own experiences. We must try to avoid putting people in categories that limit our ability to continue to assess their integrity.
I also believe embodiment is important here. Slowing down to acknowledge how people make us feel can help us be more aware of the reality of who they are. Sometimes our nervous systems know we aren’t safe before we do. In toxic environments, we can often feel disconnected from ourselves. We can begin to normalize inappropriate behavior because we aren’t fully tuned into what we are experiencing. At least, that has been my experience.
Rethink Our Halos
Maybe part of the problem is that within Christianity we perceive certain skills to be markers of goodness and integrity that just aren’t. Someone can be skilled at communicating a Biblical text even when they aren’t living the principal out. Someone who is a Christian celebrity may not actually be incredibly faithful as much as they are incredibly good at marketing. Most of the things that put Christian leaders on stages and platforms are pretty disconnected from the markers of leading a faithful life–love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, or self-control. In fact, you could even argue seeking platform could be markers of things like pride or ego (although of course not all of the time).
When we rethink what makes us perceive people as good, we are able to dim their halos and see them for who they are.
I am not an expert on the halo effect or how it operates in culture at a macro level. However, based on what I have read and learned on the subject, both from research and personal experience, I think it was exploring and bringing awareness to.
In Matthew, Jesus says that the eye is the lamp to the body and that the health of your whole body is connected to the health of your eye.
While I doubt this is perfect exegesis, this passage comes to mind often as I am reminded that our perspective of reality matters. If we cannot see things clearly or see things as good that are actually bad, it will be impossible to navigate reality effectively and faithfully. We will keep being blinded by bad men with halos that are just bright enough to hide their horns.
CITATIONS:
https://thedecisionlab.com/biases/halo-effect
Photo by Jorik Kleen on Unsplash
