New research dispels the idea that Women use their physical appearance more to advance in their careers and professions. by showing that, in reality, they are the ones who really get the most benefits from being the attractive ones in the office. This work, which involved more than 11,000 Americans and took place over 20 years, has found that handsome men are more likely to get better jobs and earn more money than women who are also attractive.
To reach this conclusion, sociologists Alexi Gugushvili and Grzegorz Bulczak They recorded the demographic information and socioeconomic status of the participants. They then asked the volunteers to rate the participants’ physical attractiveness on a four-point scale: very attractive, attractive, unattractive, and very unattractive. In the report, both explained that they decided to base the research on the perceived attractiveness of adolescents, since adults have greater financial means to manipulate or improve their physical appearance (for example, with “quality hairdressing, gym membership or plastic surgery “).
Two decades later, when the participants had reached their thirties, the researchers compared the attractiveness scores of the 15-year-old volunteers with their current professional status. In this way, they discovered that those who had risen the fastest, and who earned the most, were those who had been considered “very attractive” as teenagers.
The case of women
For their part, the Pretty women had some advantage over other less attractive women, but not as much as them.. “This suggests that for men, being attractive plays an important role in career success, whether it’s getting a raise, a promotion, or access to more competitive jobs,” Gugushvili says.
Additionally, researchers found that women’s attractiveness is typically characterized by traits such as being passive, agreeable, tender, and loving. Gugushvili also points out that some corporate cultures favor masculine traits, so while men are expected to lead decisively, they are discouraged from taking jobs with a high level of authority.
“On the one hand, it is argued that physical attractiveness plays a more important role for women because they invest more time and resources in improving their appearance and have greater opportunities to exploit it in various aspects of life. On the other, physical attractiveness could be detrimental for women in environments where they are considered attractive violates traditional gender stereotypes. For example, if skills related to leadership and authority are considered masculine characteristics, attractive women would not be expected to possess them. Therefore, they could be prevented from occupying occupational positions with a high level of authority and leadership,” they indicate.
In other words: be a attractive woman does not conform to stereotypes and expectations that are still ingrained in many people about how business leaders should be.