Relation between Raters' Characteristics and Halo Error
The present study examined the effect of personality characteristics and cognitive style of raters on halo error. To control the information available to raters, a vignette concerning two fictitious individuals was presented. The two individuals were rated on 10 traits by 60 undergraduate raters. These raters also completed a Group Embedded Figures Test and a Thurstone Temperament Schedule. Raters characterized as dominant, vigorous, and stable were less susceptible to halo error than others. These results appear compatible with previous research on the characteristics of accurate raters. The hypothesis that field-independent raters would be less susceptible to halo error than field-dependent raters was not fully supported by the data. Suggestions for the direction of future research are given.