Ho, Michelle Lauren Kah Cheng (2025) Beyond looks: examining the halo effect in children and young adults. Masters thesis, Sunway University.
Full text not available from this repository.Abstract
Perceptions of attractiveness can shape how people view other personality traits, influencing behaviour and decision-making. Although widely studied in school-aged children and adults, research on pre-schoolers is limited. Understanding pre-school children’s social interactions is important as they encounter new environments beyond their immediate family. This experimental mixed-design study tested 162 Malaysian Chinese participants across three age groups: 5-6 (n = 30), 8-9 (n = 31), and 18-30 year olds (n = 101), recruited via purposive sampling. Participants viewed dynamic facial stimuli in the form of video clips of Malaysian Chinese (6 male, 6 female) and Malaysian Malay (6 male, 6 female) faces. They rated all 24 faces on three traits: attractiveness, trustworthiness, and intelligence. The rating scales were self-developed five-point Likert-type rating scales. Results showed that there was a significant positive relationship between perceived attractiveness and perceived trustworthiness as well as perceived attractiveness and perceived intelligence for all 3 age
groups. Gender effects were also observed as 5-6 year olds rated own-gender faces as more trustworthy and 18-30 year olds rated own-gender faces as more attractive. There was no own-race preference found for attractiveness, trustworthiness and intelligence for all age groups. These findings demonstrate that the Halo Effect can be observed in children as young as 5, and highlight the potential to inform curricular development and character-building initiatives that promote inclusivity and reduce bias from an early age.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Masters) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | pre-school children; perceived attractiveness; perceived trustworthiness; perceived intelligence |
| Subjects: | H Social Sciences > HQ The family. Marriage. Woman |
| Divisions: | Sunway University > Faculty of Medical and Life Sciences [formerly School of Medical and Life Sciences until 14 March 2025; School of Healthcare and Medical Sciences until 2020] Sunway University > Faculty of Medical and Life Sciences [formerly School of Medical and Life Sciences until 14 March 2025; School of Healthcare and Medical Sciences until 2020] > School of Psychology [formerly Dept. Psychology until 14 March 2025] |
| Depositing User: | Ms Yong Yee Chan |
| Date Deposited: | 20 Oct 2026 11:33 |
| Last Modified: | 20 Oct 2026 11:33 |
| URI: | http://repository.sunway.edu.my/id/eprint/3671 |
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