The Shocking Truth about the Impact of Looks
Do attractive people have an advantage in life?
The prettiest girl in class has once again received a good grade, which many of her classmates consider unjustified. The others think that she is only favored because she is pretty.
Everyone can probably remember a similar situation in their school career…
Beautiful people are often preferred.
Is this just a cliché or is it true? If so, what is the reason? Science provides us with answers.
What science tells us
Numerous studies prove that attractiveness is a great advantage. This phenomenon can be seen right after birth. If a baby is pretty, mothers react more strongly and more often to their offspring and kiss them more often, as the US psychologist Rita Freedmann found out.
Something similar can also be observed in the further course of life. Attractive people get better grades, earn more, and are generally treated more kindly. This is due to the so-called Halo-Effect.
The Halo-Effect
This is a perceptual error. The unconscious disturbance of the judgment shows up by the fact that individual characteristics, e.g. attractiveness produce an outshining general impression of a person. You can think of it symbolically as a halo, which is where the name of the effect comes from.
Is beauty in the eye of the beholder?
Not really. Studies show that there is a clear consensus on what features are attractive and what are less attractive. In general, symmetrical faces are considered attractive. This is because symmetry is a marker of good genes and health, while asymmetrical faces are more indicative of disease or weakness. Also, in men, for example, prominent cheekbones and a pronounced jawline are very attractive, as this indicates high testosterone levels and low body fat, which in turn indicates health. Of course, despite all this, there are individual preferences.
What can we learn from this?
This phenomenon may sound unfair. It probably is. But whoever thought life was fair? Unfortunately, you can’t argue with nature. However, if we are aware of these effects, we can reduce their influence on our actions.
On the other hand, we can take advantage of our knowledge of them by maximizing our attractiveness and benefiting from the halo effect ourselves.
Thanks for reading the whole story! Check out some of my other stories:
Want to read more? Join Medium!