Blog Post #4 – What opportunities are more prominent in those considered “conventionally attractive?”

Inquiry Question: Does pretty privilege exist, if so how does it affect life opportunities and eventual outcomes?

Research Step 2 – What opportunities are more prominent in those considered “conventionally attractive”?

In the professional world, general attractiveness can help you make good impressions, get more promotions, and gain opportunities. (4) The availability of jobs, higher salaries, and positive promotions have been shown to increase with attractiveness. (4) However, pretty privilege may not be all what it’s cut out to be as the ability to engage in deep connections and be self-confident is often viewed as a more attractive quality than physical appearance. (4) People are more likely to improve performance over time as they have more positive interactions in their roles, preferably with people the perceive as beautiful. (4) Grooming and personal hygiene are two ways to appear more attractive, another contributor to pretty privilege as a whole. (4) Clients who become more confidence in themselves may be able to take on greater challenges on both a personal and professional level. (4)

A 2005 experiment modelling the hiring process revealed that employers would pay 10.5% higher salaries to people they find attractive over unattractive ones based solely off their physical appearance. (1) As a result of the so-called “halo effect,” physically attractive workers are said to be more confident, and higher confidence is correlated with higher wages. (1) The Halo effect occurs when we interpret someone’s appearance as a surefire sign of their overall character subconsciously. (1) The bias has benefited cute kids for years, giving them higher levels of confidence by the time they are attractive adults. (1) “It’s self-fulfilling prophecy,” according to information scientist Markus Mobius and Tanya Rosenblat. (1) The authors of the 2005 paper “Why Beauty Matters” argue that teachers are more likely to focus on children who they perceive to have greater potential because they expect better looking children to out perform their classmates at school. (1)

“Pygmalion effect” is an effect shaped by teachers’ expectations for their students, named after a George Bernard Shaw play about a make professor teaching ladylike behaviour. (6) Volunteers were asked to rate the attractiveness of students’ ID card photos on a scale of 1 to 10 in a real-life version of the early internet phenomenon, Hot or Not. (6) It was decided to use a 10 point scale in place of a 5-point scale as the latter seemed too rigid for someone to become more attractive through a new haircut or better style. (6)

According to a recent study out of the University of Wisconsin, it was concluded that companies with more attractive CEO’S generated higher revenues on average. (5) Furthermore, people are increasingly likely to assume that attractive strangers lead wonderful lives based on the findings of a 1972 study conducted by Getty Images. (5) Moreover, pretty privilege is also seen in the college scenario — researchers Rey Hernandez-Julian and Christina Peters analyzed student enrolment data from 2006 to 2011 at their university, a public program that accepts students of all backgrounds. (6) In traditional courses, individuals who did not replicate the set beauty standard for attractiveness were said to receive lower grades when test scores were controlled. (6) However, students said to fit the standard for looks performed worse in online classes than expected given their grades in other classes, suggesting that their looks played a factor in a boost of grades in a regular class setting. (6) In other words, if looks did not play a factor in grades, an “attractive” student would perform equally well in both online and in-person courses. (6) Students at University are typically 28 years old. (6) It is possible that this benefit could start in college, as professors might pay more attention to more attractive students, neglecting those who do not fit their standards for beauty; an ethically wrong concept that continues to riddle society. (6)

A study conducted by Sierminka found that a gender gap exists in pretty privilege as it is often based on a certain culture’s beauty standards, which can further expose discrimination based on race, gender and disability. (2) Conventionally attractive men were reported to immediately be paid more, while women experiencing the “beauty effect” had to wait longer to gradually start seeing a wage increase. (2) However, the “dark side” of pretty privilege is said to be sexual harassment. (2) “There is a lot of this type of abuse, especially in male dominated industries,” said Bono. (2) “In addition, there are a lot of unrequited advances made especially towards women who are deemed conventionally attractive.” (2)

There has been a lengthy history of valuing the Eurocentric beauty standard, particularly in the United states, with some attributes in such as black hair considered “dirty” or “unprofessional.” (2) Due to events such as colonialism dating back to the 1800s, European social norms have permeated several other societies, destroying the values of beauty that make different cultures unique. (3) It is a popular practice in many East Asian countries to give women “Double eyelids,” arguably destroying their natural cultural beauty in an effort to meet the white standards of beauty. (3) Society pages compiled a collection of beauty ads that demonstrate toxic stereotypes that black women should have features commonly associated with white women. (3) Lupita Nyong’o Academy Award Winner for Best Supporting Actress in Twelve Years for the film a “Slave,” believes that cultural and black beauty should be celebrated around the world. (3) Thus, the problem is not that whites over-celebrate white beauty in the media; but non-whites over consume white media in their non-white homelands. (3) It is disingenuous to expect caucasions to celebrate non-white beauty and pretend that is superior. (3)

At the end of the day, those who are deemed attractive by the majority of the population are paid a beauty premium, and those who do not fit into those standards are penalized for simply existing; an unfortunate ode to the gruelling society of today. (6)

Citations

1. Baer, Allana Akhtar, Drake. ‘11 Scientific Reasons Why Attractive People Are More Successful in Life’. Business Insider, https://www.businessinsider.com/beautiful-people-make-more-money-2014-11. Accessed 7 May 2023.
2. Is There a ’Pretty Privilege’​ in the Workplace? https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/pretty-privilege-workplace-get-ahead-by-linkedin-news. Accessed 7 May 2023.
3. Eurocentric Beauty Standards: A Global Disease – MAGAZINE. 3 May 2023, https://germmagazine.com/eurocentric-beauty-standards-a-global-disease/
4. The Good & Bad: Understanding Why Attractive People Are Successful | BetterHelp. https://www.betterhelp.com. Accessed 8 May 2023.
5. Mitrokostas, Sophia. ‘10 Benefits of Being Attractive, According to Science’. Insider, https://www.insider.com/benefits-of-being-attractive-science-2018-12. Accessed 9 May 2023.
6. Nelson, Libby. ‘An Infuriating Study about the Connection between Good Looks and Grades’. Vox, 8 Jan. 2016, https://www.vox.com/2016/1/8/10736454/female-students-higher-grades-attractive.