Do attractive people have an advantage in business and in life?

• Author: Croucher, John S.
• Position: Report

1. INTRODUCTION

   There has been much written in the literature about the advantages and disadvantages that may arise simply because of your physical appearance (Averett et al, 1996; Harper, 2000; Pfann et al, 2000; Pietro and Zago, 2005). Since we are born with a certain set of physical features that for the most part will deteriorate as we age, there is always the temptation to make your own alterations courtesy of cosmetic surgery or other method.

   According to a nation survey in Australia (Edwards, 2009), about two-thirds of respondents believed that good-looking people are more likely to succeed in their careers. Other findings included the perception that:

   * 80 per cent of good-looking people have an advantage in job interviews

   * 75 per cent believe that employers are more likely to prefer a candidate with good looks

   * 10 per cent said they would have cosmetic surgery to improve their appearance

   Although this doesn't mean that attractive people have an advantage in these regards but there is certainly a perception that they do (Pietro and Zago, 2005). For example, it is often suggested that when leaving an interview room, before exiting the door, that the applicant should turn around and smile at the interviewers since that is the physical image that will be the lasting one.

   In the world of gambling there are always those who will strive to find an edge over a casino. To the forefront of these is card-counting, a technique used in blackjack where the players develop a strategy to calculate the number of small and large denomination cards left in the decks left to be dealt.

   Since casino operators are not too fond of card counters and will do everything they can to thwart them (including banning them), the main focus here is that the player look as inconspicuous and essentially as unattractive as possible. This is especially the case for females who are advised to dress like a slut or bimbo so the pit boss will also think you are stupid. (HomePokerGames.com, 2009).

   Recent evidence (Fisher and Cox, 2009) suggest that women are receptive, although to a lesser degree than men, to offers of sex and how male attractiveness influences this receptivity. Their findings suggest that women are prepared to consider the most attractive men for all types of romantic relationships while short-term relationships (including casual sex and one-night stands) yielded the highest rates of receptivity. Another study (Voraceck et al, 2005) found that 6 per cent of all women were receptive to offers of casual sex with a strange man while another in Canada (Weaver and Herold, 2000) revealed that among women aged 19-27 years, 13 per cent reported sleeping with someone they had just met. The common thread among these studies was that the males were found physically attractive and they "thought it would feel good."

2. ATTRACTIVE PEOPLE

   There are a number of studies in the US that suggest that attractive people earn more than the average person (Mobius and T.S. Rosenblat, 2006) . In one instance (Businessweek, 2008) it was reported that prominent, authoritative chins were a feature of many of many of the Fortune 500 chief executives. The conclusion was that this characteristic equates with confidence and character.

   In a series of surveys in the United States and Canada (Hamermesh, 1994) found that when all other factors are taken into account, unattractive people earn less than average incomes, while beautiful people earn more than the average. This penalty for ugliness as placed at a 9% decrease in come for men while an attractive man earned 5% above average. Interestingly, attractive women earned 4% above average while unattractive women earned 6% less than average.

   When speaking of wages, one study (Averett and Korenman, 1996) even found that there was an income penalty for any women viewed as obese, although did not seem to apply to African-American women who were obese. But obesity...