Physical Attractiveness Biases in Ratings of Employment Suitability: Tracking Down the “Beauty is Beastly” Effect
Open Access
- 30 April 2010
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Taylor & Francis Ltd in The Journal of Social Psychology
- Vol. 150 (3), 301-318
- https://doi.org/10.1080/00224540903365414
Abstract
The “what is beautiful is good” heuristic suggests that physically attractive persons benefit from their attractiveness in a large range of situations, including perceptions of employment suitability. Conversely, the “beauty is beastly” effect suggests that attractiveness can be detrimental to women in certain employment contexts, although these findings have been less consistent than those for the “what is beautiful is good” effect. The current research seeks to uncover situations in which beauty might be detrimental for female applicants. In two studies, we found that attractiveness can be detrimental for women applying for masculine sex-typed jobs for which physical appearance is perceived as unimportant.Keywords
This publication has 31 references indexed in Scilit:
- Rolling with the Changes: A Role Congruity Perspective on Gender NormsPsychology of Women Quarterly, 2006
- Why visual and vocal interview cues can affect interviewers' judgments and predict job performance.Journal of Applied Psychology, 1999
- Another Look At The Effects Of Appearance, Gender, And Job Type On Performance-Based DecisionsPsychology of Women Quarterly, 1996
- What is beautiful is good, but…: A meta-analytic review of research on the physical attractiveness stereotype.Psychological Bulletin, 1991
- The Aye of the Beholder: Susceptibility to Sexism and Beautyism in the Evaluation of Managerial Applicants1Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 1985
- Applicant Attractiveness as a Perceived Job-Relevant Variable in Selection of Management Trainees.The Academy of Management Journal, 1982
- Sex and physical attractiveness of raters and applicants as determinants of resumé evaluations.Journal of Applied Psychology, 1977
- Sexism and beautyism in personnel consultant decision making.Journal of Applied Psychology, 1977
- Relative importance of applicant sex, attractiveness, and scholastic standing in evaluation of job applicant resumes.Journal of Applied Psychology, 1975
- What is beautiful is good.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1972