In 1974, 60 subjects agreed to take part in an experiment to judge the quality of two essays. Attached to each essay was a photo that they thought was of the author. In fact, the essays had been written by experimenters, and the photos had been selected so that one of the “authors” was physically attractive and the other was not.
What happened? The essay by the attractive author was considered to be significantly more impressive. The readers felt that it was more creative and intelligently argued. There was one small catch, however. The essays were identical in terms of quality and incisiveness. The readers had been swayed not by the content of the arguments but by the photos attached to them.
This study has been replicated so often that it has been given a name: the halo effect. When we judge a person highly on one attribute, such as attractiveness, we are inclined to judge them highly on others, such as competence or morality.
... Pep Guardiola, by common consent the world’s most beautiful manager in terms of how he sets up his teams. You only have to watch Emirates Marketing Project in full stride, the players creating patterns of mesmerising intricacy as they rotate the ball with the first touch, to acknowledge this truth. At Barcelona, Guardiola masterminded the team’s apotheosis in terms of aesthetics. Under the Catalan, the game seems as close to art as it does to sport.
... As one psychologist put it: “You expect better performances from attractive people, but when they fail, you are also more likely to forgive them.”
... what would have happened if it had been Mourinho rather than Guardiola getting involved in a touchline bust-up on Monday night? What would have happened if Mourinho had been carrying on the argument, arms raised, face contorted, in the tunnel? What would have happened if Mourinho had publicly condemned reckless challenges before protesting when one of his players was sent off for just such an offence? Wouldn’t we be pointing out the hypocrisy? Guardiola was neither banned nor particularly criticised for running on to the pitch and gesticulating, albeit in what turned out to be an avuncular way, at Nathan Redmond in a match against Southampton last year.
One doubts, too, that he will receive any meaningful sanction for his actions on Monday night. Guardiola seems immune from criticism more broadly. This is about more than football, of course. The halo effect operates in multiple ways, often giving those who have accumulated moral credits a kind of de facto immunity from legitimate criticism.
