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The Beauty Premium:
Why Attractive People Get Paid More and What You Can Do About It
By Catherine Kaputa
It may seem superficial. It may be unfair. After all, why should attractive people be paid more than ordinary-looking people for the same work? And why does this happen? A recent study by two economists, Markus Mobius of Harvard and Tanya Rosenblat of Wesleyan, explored what they called "the beauty premium" (hrrp://trosenblat.we.wesleyan.edu/home/beauty2005).
What they did was set up a mock labor market where students were employers and job seekers. The job was solving mazes. The job seekers filled out a resume and then were given a simple maze to solve. To measure self confidence, job applicants were asked to estimate how many mazes they could solve in 15 minutes.
What the researchers did next was to have each employer hire a small number of job applicants. Some employers only considered the resumes of potential employees. Others saw a resume and photograph. In some cases, employers saw a resume and had a telephone interview. Others received resume, a telephone interview and a photograph. The last group saw a resume, telephone interview and an in-person interview.
The findings were startling. Of course, those with good looks were no better at solving mazes than less attractive people. And when employers saw only the resumes of job applicants looks had no effect on their evaluation.
But in all the other cases, the beauty premium kicked in. Employers showed a bias for good-looking candidates and predicted they would be more productive (and paid more). This was even true for the candidates that were not seen but interviewed on the phone. The conclusion: the self confidence of good looking people even comes across in their voices. Attractive people were viewed as having stronger communications ability as well. The researchers determined that 15 to 20 percent of the beauty premium comes from self confidence, while 40 percent each comes from oral and visual communications skill.
Good looks have what social scientists call the halo effect as this study shows. Because someone is attractive, we assign many other positive attributes to him or her that have nothing to do with looks. So how can you level the playing field if you are not one of the beautiful people? Here are six tips from my new book, U R a Brand, How Smart People Brand Themselves for Business Success.
- Package yourself. Brand managers pay a lot of attention to packaging. You should too since visual impressions are powerful. We are pegged in a matter of seconds: good – bad, hire – don't hire, successful – loser. It all happens in the first few seconds. It's based on snap visual impressions: how you enter the room, how you look, your clothes. Of course, clothes won't make a difference in how well you do your job, yet they will have a significant effect on how you are perceived on the job. Clothes are a quick read and one of the easiest ways to communicate a message about who you are.
- Emphasize an unusual or different feature. You don't want to look like everyone else. You are an original and want your own vibe. Having different looks can be very effective in building a powerful and attractive image. Think how Barbra Streisand, Andy Warhol, and Arnold Schwarzeneggar all dramatized their usual looks, features or shape.
- Have a trademark. Developing a signature item as a trademark is smart personal branding that will set you apart from the crowd. You're creating a branded element that identifies you like a logo on a product. Chosen well, it will convey a brand message to others and even change the way you see yourself. Larry King has his suspenders, Jackie Kennedy had her pillbox hats and then her oversized sunglasses. Steve Jobs has his jeans. And Bono has his tinted wraparound glasses.
- Don't neglect your hair. Hair is a terrific device for building a powerful visual identity. Think of Dolly Parton vs. Laura Bush. Don King vs. Dr. Phil. Donald Trump's hair has become as much a trademark of his visual identity as the trophy wife and oversize yacht. Even the lack of hair can be attractive if you fully shave your head to accentuate the shape and silhouette.
- Focus on "soft power" "Soft power" was coined by Joseph S. Nye to describe how to attract people to your ideas in the arena of world politics. Soft power uses things like your values, style and point of view to attract others to you. One thing to think about is executive presence. How do you enter a room? Do you stand tall and walk purposefully? Or do you slouch and look distracted? Another aspect of executive presence is comportment.- your way of conducting yourself in interacting with others. Comportment is knowing how to behave in expected and unexpected situations regardless of how many eyes are on you.
- Hone your oral communications skills. The words you use and the way you present your ideas can be powerful and memorable or blow away like a leaf in the wind. What is the point of communicating if you don't have an impact? The ability to sell yourself and your ideas – to communicate to another person, whether it is your boss, employee or mate – is a critical skill for personal success. And how you say something is as important as what you say. After all, you've got eighty percent of the beauty premium licked if you create a dynamic oral and visual communication style.
Catherine Kaputa is a brand strategist and speaker. She is the author of U R a BRAND! How Smart People Brand Themselves for Business Success (www.urabrand.com). Kaputa is founder of SelfBrand, a brand and media consultancy that works with companies, products, and individuals (www.selfbrand.com).
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