Not being attractive as a teenager may have consequences far more reaching than a bruised ego and scribing the occasional bad poem.
A new study suggests that a pretty face can be a source of lifelong advantage - beginning at secondary school - according to a report prepared for the Council on Contemporary Families.
The report, 'In School, Good Looks Help and Good Looks Hurt (But They Mostly Help)' says that from high school onwards, people rate better-looking people higher in intelligence, personality, and potential for success — and this often creates a self-fulfilling prophecy.
The sociologists behind the study, Rachel Gordon (University of Illinois at Chicago) and Robert Crosnoe (University of Texas at Austin) also say women gain an eight per cent wage bonus for above-average looks and pay a four per cent wage penalty for below-average looks.
For men, the bonus is only four per cent. But the penalty for below-average looks is even higher than for women – a full 13 per cent.
Gordon and Crosnoe argue that 'lookism' creates inequalities comparable to those created by racism, sexism, and family background.
They wrote: '(In high school) youth rated as better looking get higher grades and are more likely to attain a college degree than their peers, setting the stage for better economic outcomes through adulthood.
In fact, the difference in GPA (grade point average) and college graduation rates between youth rated by others as attractive versus average in looks is similar to the differences in academic achievement between youth raised in two-parent versus single-parent families.'
Gordon and Crosnoe’s research suggests that there is a cumulative advantage to being considered attractive that continues to operate long after people’s high school cliques have dissolved.
They find that even when people are listening to phone calls, they tend to 'hear' more warmth and sociability from individuals they have been primed to think are attractive than from individuals who have been portrayed as unattractive.
However, the authors acknowledge that there are some disadvantages to the popularity that comes with being seen as attractive. For instance, they note: 'Youth rated as more physically attractive are more likely to date, have sexual partners, and drink heavily.
'These factors, in turn, have negative consequences for immediate grades and later college completion.'
They concede that a few studies have identified a beauty penalty for women in certain male-dominated occupations.
All in all, they maintain, above-average looks provide people with long-term advantages, while being unattractive is a source of disadvantage.
They suggest that parents and schools should pay more attention to countering the effects of lookism.
However, while sociologist Barbara Risman (University of Illinois/Chicago) applauded the quality of the research, she objected to any equation of lookism with racism.
She said: 'Although looks are in part inherited, babies who are eventually labeled unattractive children do not begin life with the same cumulative disadvantages of, say, African-Americans, who are disproportionately likely to grow up in impoverished communities with inferior schools.'
Ms Risman also reminds us that for men in particular, the disadvantages of being unattractive are often outweighed by other achievements as they age, while even the most attractive women face unfavorable comments on their looks as they age.
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