Men benefit more from their looks at work than women do, new research shows

New research upends the trope that women use their looks to get ahead in their careers, showing that men actually reap greater benefits from being attractive in the workplace.

A recent study of more than 11,000 Americans conducted over 20 years has found that good-looking men are more likely to attain better jobs and make more money than similarly attractive women.

In 1993, two sociologists from the University of Oslo and the Polish Academy of Sciences identified young Americans between the ages of 12 and 18 using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (NLSAH).

Alexi Gugushvili and Grzegorz Bulczak recorded participants’ demographic information and socioeconomic status, then asked volunteers to rate the participants’ physical attractiveness on a 4-point scale: Very attractive, attractive, unattractive, and very unattractive.

In the report, Gugushvili and Bulczak explained that they chose to base the research on teenagers’ perceived attractiveness as adults have greater financial means to manipulate or enhance their physical appearance (like getting plastic surgery) so those scores would feel less genuine.

Two decades later, when the participants had reached their late 30s, the researchers compared the attractiveness scores of the 15-year-old volunteers to their current career status. They discovered that those who had moved up the corporate ladder the fastest — and were earning the most — were the men who had been deemed “very attractive” as teenagers.

Even with potential obstacles like coming from a low-income household or growing up in a dangerous neighborhood, attractive men still managed to achieve upward mobility.

Good-looking women had a slight advantage in their careers over other women deemed less attractive, but men saw the greatest benefits from their physical appearance, according to the report.

“This suggests that for men, being attractive plays a significant role in your professional success, whether it’s getting a raise, a promotion or access to more competitive jobs,” says Gugushvili.

Ref: Men benefit more from their looks at work than women do, new research shows (cnbc)

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