Attractive Men May Be Rejected for Competitive Jobs
Attractive men are discriminated against for competitive jobs. (Photo: Victor Demarchelier)
Confirming your suspicions, appearance really does matter in the workplace. A recent study from the University College London School of Management found that in competitive jobs, men who are perceived as more attractive are less likely to get hired or promoted. Hiring managers discriminate against attractive men in jobs like sales because they will have to compete against them. According to the study, this is because attractive men are perceived as more competent. In jobs where success is measured by team performance like R&D, attractive or competent men are perceived to benefit the company as a whole. This particularly applies in workplaces with rewards for team performance since handsome men will theoretically help further the decision maker’s own success. “Managers are affected by stereotypes and make hiring decisions to serve their own self-interests so organizations may not get the most competent candidates,” study director Sun Young Lee found.
Lee thinks that this bias needs to be taken into consideration in the hiring process, particularly since companies involve employees in recruitment. “Awareness that hiring is affected by potential work relationships and stereotyping tendencies can help organizations improve their selection process,” he writes. “For example, engaging external representatives may improve selection outcomes as outsiders are likely to provide fair inputs. Also, if organizations make managers more accountable for their decisions, they’ll be less motivated to pursue self-interests at the expense of the company.”
The study found that the same did not apply to attractive women because gender stereotypes and physical stereotypes interact differently between the sexes. Also, unlike with males, female attractiveness is not associated with competence. A 2011 study from Harvard University and Proctor & Gamble instead found that women who wear bold makeup are perceived as more competent and likable in the workplace. Men and women were asked to look at pictures of 25 women of varying races wearing different amounts of makeup. The images of women with dark eye and lip makeup were seen as more competent than the women wearing little or no makeup. “There are times when you want to give a powerful ‘I’m in charge here’ kind of impression,” study author Sarah Vickery told The New York Times. “Women shouldn’t be afraid to do that.” If you’re still not convinced that bold makeup is appropriate for the workplace, a New York Post Twitter survey asked 460 women how they felt about red lipstick in the workplace and found that 91.2% thought it was completely appropriate and 78.8% thought it made women look more confident. No matter your appearance, confidence is crucial to positive impressions, in the workplace or elsewhere.
Viewers of a study of women wearing varying amounts of makeup found that women wearing more makeup seem more competent. (Photo: Harvard University)
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