Analyzing The Article 'Physical Attractiveness Bias In Hiring'

Teresa Cruz
Communication 11
Professor Rex Butt
May 3, 2011 The Halo/ reverse Halo effect and beauty Have you ever seen a CEO of a huge cooperation walking in to a business meeting in shorts and sneakers? Probably not. Throughout many industries of the world certain job positions come with a specific look. Which means the person that holds one of these positions is expected to dress and appear in a certain way. People’s perceptions of others can be greatly affected by the halo effect and the bias of attractive people as demonstrated by the article “Physical Attractiveness Bias In Hiring: What is beautiful good” by Comila Shahani-Denning and the 2006 film The Devil Wears Prada. The halo effect in basic terms is attributing many
Even though she doesn’t actually show any evidence of any of those qualities. In the film The Devil Wears Prada, The Runway magazine publishing company has set a high standard of presentation for its employees. All of it’s employee basically fit the same description, size 2, attractive and wearing the latest fashion. Then a average looking young women named Andy walks in wearing an outfit that looked like she stole it from her great grandmother closet to apply to be the assistant’s assistant to the head of the company, the assistant Emily begin judging her the second she enters the office. She obviously doesn’t fit in and is quickly overlooked for the position by the assistant. This is closely related to the idea’s in Comila Shahani-Denning article of beauty is good. The beauty is good theory states that attractiveness has a significant impact on a person being hired, so the more attractive candidate has a better chance in being hired then the less attractive person. Which can be seen as a type of discrimination because you it’s a non-work related factor. Attribution also plays a huge role in this situation. Attribution is the way we find meaning to other peoples actions. There are
That what set us apart from other animal, the need to know why. But what happens when our judgments of other are based on assumptions rather than facts. We begin to form false views of people and even form stereotypes of people. One stereotype I’ve heard many times is that overweight people are unorganized and just messy. Which is hard for me to understand what one has to do with the other, I’m nowhere near the 121 lbs I’m supposed to be for my age and height but that doesn’t mean I’m a slob, it just means I like food. How shallow have we become that we judge people based on physical characteristics. In addition to the beauty is good theory, Comila Shahani-Denning also explore the far less common beauty is beast theory. Beauty is beast theory basically states that attractive females are considered to feminine for a traditionally male role and are less likely to be hired then a less attractive female. I have seen this my entire life, my mother has always been the only female at most her jobs, not because she unattractive but because she normally wears very loose fitting clothes and never wears make-up so she give off a rougher look then a women who wears , making her seem suitable for more masculine