For the Beautiful, Boldness Pays

A pretty face can go a long way in securing a higher paying job, and Associate Professor of Economics Markus M. Mobius may have pinpointed one reason why. A study he published in March found that this “beauty premium” exists in part because the more attractive are more confident.

Mobius’s study, published in The American Economic Review last month, builds on data that shows that workers labeled physically attractive earn about 10 to 15 percent more than their plainer peers.

Researchers working with Mobius created a labor market where employers had to predict the maze-solving ability of prospective applicants.

Workers were asked to solve a maze and estimate how many similar ones they could complete in 15 minutes. The employers then evaluated these workers’ productivity, some using only a resume and others using interviews and photographs.

Those applicants deemed physically attractive did not receive a wage boost when employers only saw their resume, according to the study.

But when employers were allowed to see or hear the applicants, the comely received higher wages.

Attractiveness does not make a person better at mazes, said co-author of the study Tanya S. Rosenblat, a Wesleyan assistant professor of economics.

“There is no gain from physical attractiveness for solving mazes on the computer,” Rosenblat said.

But good-looking workers had greater self-confidence and in turn, employers incorrectly thought they were more capable than the less attractive, Rosenblat said.

She also noted that physically attractive workers were rewarded even when employers only heard their voices over the phone.

“The most interesting finding is that there is a beauty premium even without seeing the photograph,” Rosenblat said, adding that another factor correlated with physical attractiveness—perhaps superior communication skills or a better-sounding voice—is probably at work.

The research may be of some practical use to less attractive people who desire income parity with their prettier peers.

Rosenblat pointed out that in the experiment, all participants were at the same skill level. But in the real world, she said, “If you have a higher skill level, you will be paid more no matter what.”

“If you just work on building your confidence, that will help you,” she added.

The subjects consisted of university students from Tucuman, Argentina, who were assigned to be employers or workers, according to the study. The attractiveness of each participant was ranked on an ascending scale of one to five by local high school students.

Rosenblat said although body-type attractiveness is subject to cultural taste, notions of a beautiful face remain constant.

“These rankings are very stable across gender and cultures,” she said. “If you have a beautiful face, everybody will think you have a beautiful face.”

Sarika P. Bansal ’06, who has interviewed for consulting jobs, said feigning confidence is a tip everyone can use—pretty or otherwise.

“I think it’s always important to appear confident,” she said, “no matter how attractive a person is.”

—Staff writer David Zhou can be reached at dzhou@fas.harvard.edu.