Whether it’s taking on more responsibilities or staying late in the office, many employees will go above and beyond to try to get a pay rise.
But now a study suggests that if you’re not good looking, your efforts may be futile.
Researchers from the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences in Baltimore have uncovered a ‘striking’ link between physical attractiveness and career success.
In their study, the team analysed the careers of more than 40,000 graduates who had completed MBAs.
They found attractive respondents earned up to 11 per cent more than their colleagues who were seen as less good looking.
What’s more, they were significantly more likely to secure prestigious job roles.
‘Appearance shapes not just the start of a career, but its trajectory over decades,’ said Professor Nikhil Malik, who led the study.
‘These findings reveal a persistent and compounding effect of beauty in professional settings.’
Researchers from the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences in Baltimore have uncovered a ‘striking’ link between physical attractiveness and career success (stock image)
While beauty is in the eye of the beholder, several previous studies have uncovered benefits associated with being conventionally attractive.
For example, beautiful people are rated as more trustworthy, better leaders, and are expected to be more intelligent.
In their study, the team set out to understand whether physical attractiveness also influences career success.
The researchers analysed data from more than 43,000 MBA graduates.
They used AI to quantify each participants’ attractiveness, and looked at how their career success – including their salary and job title – evolved over a 15-year period.
The results revealed that attractive graduates earned 2.4 per cent more than their less attractive peers, which equated to an average of $2,508 (£2,006) more every year.
But for the top 10 per cent of attractive people, this increased to more than 11, leading to a yearly salary differential of $5,528 (£4,423).
The researchers describe this effect as the ‘beauty premium’.
Whether it’s taking on more responsibilities or staying late in the office, many employees will go above and beyond to try to get a pay rise. But a new study suggests that if you’re not good looking, your efforts may be futile (stock image)
Beyond salary, attractive people were also 52.4 per cent more likely to hold prestigious job positions 15 years post-graduation.
However, the researchers found that the benefits of attractiveness varied significantly by industry.
Management and consulting – fields that require frequent social interaction – showed the highest beauty premium.
In contrast, more technical fields, including IT and engineering, showed the lowest beauty premium.
‘This research underscores how biases tied to physical appearance persist in shaping career outcomes, even for highly educated professionals,’ said Professor Param Vir Singh, co-author of the study.
The researchers didn’t delve into the reasons for the findings.
However, Astrid Hopfensitz, Professor in organizational behavior at EM Lyon Business School, who was not involved in this study, suggests it may be down to trust.
‘It is thought individuals perceived as beautiful are also more likely to benefit from people’s trust, which makes it easier for them to get promoted or to strike business deals,’ she explained in an article for The Conversation.
‘The idea is that individuals who look better are thought to be healthier or/and to have had more positive social interactions in their past, which might influence their trustworthiness.’
