As the prettiest employee in my office, it was jarring yet unsurprising to hear about a new study that found that children of physically attractive parents are more likely to earn more money during their working lives than children with regular or unattractive parents. Reflecting on the privileges I have been afforded in my life, I now wonder how often I have received a job or opportunity for my abilities compared to my looks.
Fine. Though my looks are dazzling, I can admit that there are people who are hotter than me, I guess. But as soon as you are deemed attractive, as soon as someone has a wee crush on you, you’re benefiting from lookism. Lookism is discrimination based on appearance, where attractive individuals may receive unfair advantages in jobs, promotions, or social situations. Decades of research like this study prove the phenomenon’s societal presence, and workplaces are not free from this. Employers still judge their applicants on appearance. When a job hunter looks the part, they are more likely to get a position.
Pretty privilege is pretty real. The study ‘The Economic Impact of Heritable Physical Traits: Hot Parents, Rich Kid?’ explores the idea that physical attractiveness, as a heritable trait, influences income inequality across generations. Daniel S. Hamermesh has built his career on pulchronomics – the economics of physical appearances. Beyond this study, he’s also the author of the book ‘Beauty Pays: Why Attractive People Are More Successful.’
It’s weird to think about how hot your parents are, but that’s what this study is all about. “Better-looking people are more likely to be financially and professionally successful throughout their lives,” he told EuroNews. “It’s twofold: your parents’ being good-looking makes you look good-looking, and that helps you do well. But it’s also because if your parents were good-looking, that means they have more money to give you.”
In short, attractive people earn more. The researchers found that a one standard deviation increase in parents’ attractiveness is associated with a 0.4 standard deviation increase in their child’s attractiveness. When coupled with existing research on the impact of attractiveness on earnings, this suggests that a one standard deviation difference in parents’ attractiveness could lead to approximately $2300 more in annual earnings for their adult child. Reading this data makes me question how hot I actually am…
Understanding Pretty Privilege
Valuing superficial attributes over actual skills or character is discrimination. And yet lookism and pretty privilege are so commonplace that it’s often excused as natural human behaviour. Consider the halo effect, the bias where one positive trait, like attractiveness, leads us to assume a person has other positive qualities, such as intelligence or kindness.
One Harvard Business Review study said someone with a coat and tie, glasses, beard, or couture in their profile picture was more likely to get positive attention and job outcomes. Attractive bosses get higher performance ratings than ordinary-looking managers. Attractive employees are more likely to get promoted and climb the ladder faster and further. We know that folks looking to hire new employees are researching our social media despite insisting they do not, so if you are, then consider a profile picture update to stack the deck more in your favour.
Further studies prove how pretty privilege, the idea that being more attractive makes success easier to obtain is inescapable in society. A National Library of Medicine study found a robust, positive correlation between attractiveness in high school and men’s earnings in their 30s and 50s. In male-dominated workplaces, the ‘bimbo effect’ can take place, where young women are deemed attractive but not intelligent, so they find themselves working harder than their male counterparts to prove their competence.
Is There a Way to Overcome Pretty Privilege?
Hamermesh is hopeful that the research findings will make people more aware of their bias towards better-looking people and make them more likely to correct it. “If you’re conscious of the fact that you’re discriminating, you’re much less likely to do so,” he said. “I think just making people aware of something like this reduces its detrimental impact.”
In workplaces, there are many ways to challenge the bias around pretty privilege. By creating fair, inclusive practices that focus on merit and ability rather than appearance, we work to challenge lookism. Standardised hiring processes, such as structured interviews and skill-based assessments, can help focus on candidates’ qualifications without bias.
Unconscious bias training and diverse representation across all roles also strengthen the workplace culture because you demonstrate how a broad range of appearances and backgrounds are all equally valuable assets. Ensuring performance reviews are based on measurable outcomes and specific achievements rather than subjective factors is another great move that supports an environment where talent and contributions are recognised fairly. On top of this, encouraging open feedback channels allows employees to raise concerns about biases so the organisation can address any unfair practices.
Perhaps all of this is easier said than done. As I mentioned earlier, we tend to consider looks-based discrimination as so commonplace that we brush it aside as human nature. Other factors like skills, experience, and personality also play a role in someone’s overall career trajectory. Attractiveness may provide an initial advantage, but it is not the sole determinant of success. I can attest, as the pretty privileges I have are quickly erased once I start talking.
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