Physical Attractiveness Bias In Hiring: What Is Beautiful Is Good
Physical Attractiveness Bias in Hiring:
What Is Beautiful Is Good
Comila Shahani-Denning
Associate Professor
Department of Psychology
T
he bias in favor of physically attractive people is robust, with attractive people being perceived as more sociable, happier and more successful than unattractive people (Dion, Berscheid &
Walster, 1972; Eagly, Ashmore,
Makhijani & Longo, 1991; Hatfield &
Sprecher, 1986; Watkins & Johnston,
2000). Attractiveness biases have been demonstrated in such different areas as teacher judgments of students (Clifford
& Walster, 1973), voter preferences for political candidates (Efran & Patterson,
1974) and jury judgments in simulated trials (Efran, 1974). Recently, Smith,
McIntosh and Bazzini (1999) …show more content…
Attractiveness was significantly and positively correlated with both the interviewer evaluation as well as the final admissions decision. In examining interviewer evaluations, an interesting finding was the relationship between applicant gender, attractiveness and high school rank. For males, higher rank was associated with higher interview scores regardless of attractiveness. For unattractive women, results were similar.
However, for attractive women, interview scores were always high regardless of rank. Although there was evidence of attractiveness bias in interviewer judgments, the results were different when examining the overall admissions decision. Although attractiveness was significantly and positively correlated with the admissions decision, when controlling for academic credentials (SAT, high school rank), attractiveness did not predict the overall admissions decision.
There was no support for the “beauty is beastly” bias in this study. There was no relationship between applicant physical attractiveness, gender and the academic major they were applying for. Finally,
Shahani et al. (1993) supported the external validity of using photographs in the study of attractiveness bias …show more content…
The United States is considered to be an extremely individualistic culture, whereas India is considered to be a collectivistic culture. Data was collected from 216 Indian students and 121 American students. Applicant gender and attractiveness were manipu-
lated via photographs. Participants were asked to review applicant resumes and a job description for a department head of children’s toys (gender neutral job) and then to evaluate the applicants’ qualifications, likelihood of being hired, and the salary they would be awarded.
Equivalent pictures and resumes were used for the Indian and American samples. Each participant reviewed one resume and saw a picture of either an attractive or unattractive male or female applicant. In analyzing the data for the
Indian students, physical attractiveness was not found to affect ratings of qualifications or likelihood of hiring; however, there was an effect on the salary rating.
Higher salaries were offered to attractive applicants. There were no effects for applicant attractiveness or gender on the ratings of
What Is Beautiful Is Good
Comila Shahani-Denning
Associate Professor
Department of Psychology
T
he bias in favor of physically attractive people is robust, with attractive people being perceived as more sociable, happier and more successful than unattractive people (Dion, Berscheid &
Walster, 1972; Eagly, Ashmore,
Makhijani & Longo, 1991; Hatfield &
Sprecher, 1986; Watkins & Johnston,
2000). Attractiveness biases have been demonstrated in such different areas as teacher judgments of students (Clifford
& Walster, 1973), voter preferences for political candidates (Efran & Patterson,
1974) and jury judgments in simulated trials (Efran, 1974). Recently, Smith,
McIntosh and Bazzini (1999) …show more content…
Attractiveness was significantly and positively correlated with both the interviewer evaluation as well as the final admissions decision. In examining interviewer evaluations, an interesting finding was the relationship between applicant gender, attractiveness and high school rank. For males, higher rank was associated with higher interview scores regardless of attractiveness. For unattractive women, results were similar.
However, for attractive women, interview scores were always high regardless of rank. Although there was evidence of attractiveness bias in interviewer judgments, the results were different when examining the overall admissions decision. Although attractiveness was significantly and positively correlated with the admissions decision, when controlling for academic credentials (SAT, high school rank), attractiveness did not predict the overall admissions decision.
There was no support for the “beauty is beastly” bias in this study. There was no relationship between applicant physical attractiveness, gender and the academic major they were applying for. Finally,
Shahani et al. (1993) supported the external validity of using photographs in the study of attractiveness bias …show more content…
The United States is considered to be an extremely individualistic culture, whereas India is considered to be a collectivistic culture. Data was collected from 216 Indian students and 121 American students. Applicant gender and attractiveness were manipu-
lated via photographs. Participants were asked to review applicant resumes and a job description for a department head of children’s toys (gender neutral job) and then to evaluate the applicants’ qualifications, likelihood of being hired, and the salary they would be awarded.
Equivalent pictures and resumes were used for the Indian and American samples. Each participant reviewed one resume and saw a picture of either an attractive or unattractive male or female applicant. In analyzing the data for the
Indian students, physical attractiveness was not found to affect ratings of qualifications or likelihood of hiring; however, there was an effect on the salary rating.
Higher salaries were offered to attractive applicants. There were no effects for applicant attractiveness or gender on the ratings of