Attractive individuals may be penalized for good looks

National Post:

It isn’t easy being beautiful — at least, not all the time.

Two new studies have identified a surprising penalty for good looks, with implications for professional and personal settings alike.

Researchers from Germany find the well-known beauty bias is actually flipped when attractive job candidates are appraised by a same-sex evaluator. Researchers from the U.S., separately, show a similarly negative effect when good-looking people have their apologies judged by their own gender.

“There are a lot of studies that show attractive people make more money, are more likely to get hired and get lighter sentences in court when they’re convicted of crimes. But this shows the benefits might not be across the board,” says April Phillips, co-author of the American research.

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