The Effect of Physical Attractiveness on Job Success

In the United States, there has been a substantial increase in obesity. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one in every American adult is now considered obese. Obese is defined as having a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or higher. Obesity can contribute to diabetes, heart disease, stroke or certain kinds of cancer. What effect does obesity have in the workplace and how can we fight it?

“We all know that appearance matters, but the price of prejudice can be steeper than we often assume” (Washington1.) Published originally in the Washington Post on May 23,2010 by Deborah L. Rhode. Rhode the Professor of law and legal director at Stanford University in her essay “Why Looks Are The Last Bastion Of Discrimination,” argues that an individual's physical appearance is one of the few qualities of their personal identity that other people are legally within their rights to discriminate against. Rhode states her thesis clearly explaining the forthcoming reasons she will offer to uphold her position. Rhode believes that discriminating against individuals based on their appearance is wrong, and is often overlooked in many environments such as the workforce. Many think it is crucial that discrimination on looks is banned in workplaces, schools, and most other organizations.

Society today has distorted what a healthy physique actually looks like. It tells you, if you don’t have muscles bulging from under your skin then you are out of shape. And that if you are overweight you are just ugly. Another false concept is that if you are overweight you’re lazy or not self disciplined (Bordo 2). There are so many factors that have to be accounted for when evaluating someone’s weight. To assume that someone is lazy or weak because they are overweight, is ignorant. Many people are deceived into thinking that obesity is terrible like a sin. In her article Susan Bordo gives an example of a study taken where children chose obesity to be more uncomfortable or embarrassing than dismembered hands or facial deformities when shown

In people’s perspective, attractiveness possess a wide variety of positive personal qualities compared to unattractive people. Result from the study on physical attractiveness stereotypes show the attractive people had the most positive ratings. For example, they are judged as less disturbed, rated as happier and more successful, and more likely to be hired after a job interview. Thus, the concept of attractiveness having a correlation between an individual’s physical appearance and his/her achievements, abilities, psychological well-being and/or other status characteristics to create a perception is

There is scientific proof that obesity is linked to many serious health conditions of our time. Cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, sleep apnea, high blood pressure and osteoarthritis [(National Institutes of Health) (Haslam)] are just some of them and were responsible for almost 400,000 deaths in America in 2004 alone (Goldfarb). These conditions even if they do not cause death, are serious enough to significantly decrease the quality of an individual’s life. The aesthetic effects of obesity, on the other hand, are known to cause depression and low self-esteem. Unfortunately, the criteria that most people are judged and evaluated today are based on the stereotypes created by advertisements and lifestyle in general. A thin, fit person has more chances of being likable and preferable than someone who is overweight, in many aspects of everyday life, including the workplace. All these situations create a very negative impact on the mentality of an overweight person.

Obese African American women were discriminated by society in the workplace. Being obese in society is seen as a form of laziness, self-disrespect, and poor self-control. Rothblum, Miller, and Garbutt (1988) found that overweight job applicants were evaluated more negatively than average weight applicants on issues such as their supervisory potential, self-discipline, and personal hygiene (Morrison & O'Connor, 1999). Qualifications for employment should never be based on an individual's weight. For example, Larkin and Pines

In the race for the presidency between Richard Nixon and John F. Kennedy, many would say that the debate was the most influential factor. Specifically the decision of makeup or no makeup that the two candidates had to make. Before the debate, Nixon had just recently recovered from a broken knee and was exhausted from the long day, but then refused makeup when it was offered to him. Kennedy, on the other hand, had spent the day relaxing and rehearsing, and accepted makeup, looking fully rejuvenated (Morton). TV viewers of the debate said JFK won, while the radio audience claimed it was a draw. Those who could see the competitors were more focused on the contrast in their appearances than their responses to important global issues. If we deem our leaders responsible based on their face rather than their eligibility, we’ll lead ourselves down a destructive path of failure. Also, on the labor side of things, Deborah Rhodes mentioned in her book that short men have a disadvantage in earnings, hiring, and career advancement (Rhodes, pg. 93). Employers are constantly dismissing individuals because they don’t meet some aesthetic quota, even when it doesn’t apply to the type of work for which they’re applying. They evaluate their interviewees using irrelevant information, while possibly affecting the company’s

The pressure to lose weight in today’s society inhibits the personality and health of overweight people while essentially increasing the weight of the people who experience these pressures (Worley 163-167). So reasons Mary Ray Worley in her article, “Fat and Happy: In Defense of Fat Acceptance.” Worley uses her personal experience as well as a small number of facts to dispute why overweight people struggle as they attempt to contribute to society (163-167). In the beginning of her article she references an association of which she is a member, the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance, to convey the possibilities to advance society when judgement based on size is abandoned (163-164). The association holds a conference every year, and Worley continually refers to the atmosphere at the convention as “another planet,” suggesting that the scarcity of judgment during the convention differed significantly from her everyday experiences (163-164, 167). Applying her encounters to all people of her weight category, she declares that even doctors blame the majority of sicknesses on weight (165). She also proclaims that people should not diet and exercise in order to lose weight, as this triggers loss of motivation without results, but to improve their attitude and mood (166). Referencing Dr. Diane Budd from the convention, she states that attempts to lose weight cause “lasting harmful effects on one’s appetite, metabolism, and self-esteem” (164). While Worley’s unjustifiable

In my opinion and many sociologists would agree with me that the weight of the candidate affects the decisions of the authorities about his/her hiring, promotion, salary increase and dismissal. Especially discrimination is evident in hiring when the HR management is unaware of the abilities and skills of prospective candidate, but because of the person’s weight, immediately stereotypes him/her (overweight people have difficulties to keep up with the fast pace work environment).

Literature on the topic of attractiveness is very extensive. The human face is something that catches every ones attention and more over the scientists as well the psychologists are interested in analyzing the ability of humans to extract information of the others. Several factors and features are associated with attractiveness. Some examples include facial symmetry, skin color, facial traits, clear skin and health of facial skin. It is hypothesized that facial symmetry is an important factors in measuring physical attractiveness. Different features may be perceived as attractive by different people.

Portly people may also have difficulty in the workplace. Heavy people may be considered a risk due to obesity related disease. Roehling and Reese (2002) believe that fat people have been perceived by employers as a burden when it comes to providing health care insurance. Some companies have chastised employees for their

The Halo Effect is the cognitive bias that generalizes that if an individual has one outstanding favorable character trait, the rest of that individual’s trait will be favorable. Specific to physical attractiveness, this is known as the “Attractiveness Halo.” Attractiveness plays an important role in determining social interactions. In fact, the physical attractiveness of an individual is a vital social cue utilized by others to evaluate other aspects of that individual’s abilities (Kenealy, Frude, & Shaw, 2001). Because of the attractiveness halo, attractive applicants trying to enter the workforce tend to

Weight discrimination “generally refers to negative weight-related attitudes toward an overweight or obese individual” (Puhl 1). Obesity numbers started to skyrocket in the 1990s and weight discrimination started to become a problem about five years later. Obese individuals are susceptible to weight discrimination at health care facilities, school, work, and even in personal relationships. Studies have found that the chances of experiencing weight discrimination increase the more an individual weighs. “In our study, 10 percent of overweight women reported weight discrimination, 20 percent of obese women reported weight discrimination and 45 percent of very obese women reported weight discrimination. men were lower, with 3 percent of overweight, 6 percent of obese and 28 percent of very obese men reporting weight discrimination. This finding also tells us that women begin experiencing weight discrimination at lower levels of body weight than men” (Puhl 2). For women weight discrimination is more common than race discrimination.

Overall people perceived as beautiful have more job opportunities as well as a higher chance for advancement in their carriers. A study was conducted by the University of North Carolina at Pembroke on the topic of the relationship between attractiveness of professors and the perceived quality of their teaching. What the study found out was a strong relationship between the two – “results indicated that as hotness ratings increased, so did ratings on overall quality, clarity, and helpfulness. Additionally, further analysis indicated that the greater the percentage of hotness ratings to overall ratings, the more likely that students rated the professors favorably.” Moreover research shows that attractive people perform better when interviewed. An interesting fact is

A major contribution of this article is that it paves the way for future experiments and empirical studies. The conclusion presented on premia and penalties associated with looks in the article reflect the effect of beauty in all its characteristics, not just one of its many components, such as height, weight, or facial appearance. Future experiment and empirical studies can be built on the layout or techniques presented by this article and can be focused on examining the source of wage differentials and possible discrimination due to a specific characteristic of beauty or various other dimensions such as physical and mental disabilities. Same experiment can also be conducted on data from economies outside of North America to check whether the same premia and penalties of looks exist in other economies.