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Case 1:20-cr-00330-PAE Document 424-1 Filed 11/08/21 Page /7of15 Comey, Moe, Pomerantz and Rohrbach November 1, 2021 Page 6 halo effects when making diagnoses of psychopathology, such that symptoms of one mental disorder influence the interpretation of other symptoms indicative of other mental disorders and vice versa (see e.g., DeVries, Hartung, & Golden, 2017). Halo effects are a means to achieving cognitive consistency, which roughly refers to a state in which attitudes, perceptions, beliefs, predictions, and thoughts are aligned. Cognitive consistency serves many important goals. As noted by Read and Simon (2012), cognitive consistency is “essential for reasons of parsimony and economy of effort, as well as to allow for the predictability of, and hence adaptability to, subsequent encounters” (p. 67). Indeed, the noted psychologist Leon Festinger “was convinced that the psychological need for cognitive consistency is as basic as hunger and thirst” (Gawronski, 2012, p. 652). But because the world is often not so neat, orderly, or unequivocal, humans engage in complicated reasoning processes to impose consistency. These processes involve bi-directional reasoning in which “decisions follow from evidence, and evaluations of the evidence shift toward coherence with the emerging decision” (Simon, Snow, & Read, 2004, p. 814; Greenspan & Scurich, 2016). As a result, perceptions and decisions become highly skewed toward one interpretation while alternatives are neglected or dismissed, hence consistency is achieved. This reasoning process occurs unconsciously, i.e., outside conscious awareness, and is not intentional self-deception. Halo effects can have serious practical consequences. As noted by Forgas and Laham (2016): Once unjustified initial expectations are formed about a person, they can easily become self-perpetuating with serious implications for how a target is treated. If we expect a person to have positive characteristics, we may selectively look for and find such features from the rich array of information available (a self-fulfilling prophecy), and positive impressions may in turn lead to preferential treatment in a range of domains: interpersonal relations, the work place, the health and legal systems, and even for decision making and consumer choices. (p. 286) Like many people who achieve great power and wealth, Jeffery Epstein exploited the Halo effect to surround himself with people who would serve his needs. At the most primitive level, his wealth attracted those seeking for themselves some of what he had. At the most sophisticated level, others with halos of their own—through any combination of power, influence, fame, brilliance, attractiveness, social standing, or other positive characteristics—mingled with Epstein for reasons of their own, and being seen in their company empowered him and made him look above suspicion. In a videotaped interview with Steve Bannon, Epstein differentiated between different kinds of power—such as Bill Clinton’s political power, wrestlers’ and weight lifters’ physical power, and Gerry Edelman’s intellectual power—and acknowledged that he gravitated to people of power. [CONFIDENTIAL] SDNY _GM_ SUPP _00219000.mov. The materials reviewed reflect that Jeffrey Epstein was a brilliant man who was flawed by enduring personality traits familiar to psychiatrists as “Cluster B personality traits,” found among those with antisocial, narcissistic, borderline, and histrionic personality disorders. DOJ-OGR-00006259