| |||
 | |||
It pays to be pretty. Or so we've been told by life experience as well as research findings. Better-looking people get the benefit of the doubt, get away with bad behavior and make more money than everyone else. Even babies spend more time staring at faces that the rest of us deem attractive.
So while I'd hardly expect the following news to start the telethon phone banks ringing off the hook with sympathy, it's interesting to note that a new research study demonstrates that there are at least some circumstances in which being beautiful backfires.
This isn't an entirely new development, either. In a classic study from 1975, researchers from the University of Maryland presented participants with the summary of a criminal trial, including the defendant's demographic information and a photograph. Some of the participants were given a photo of an attractive woman (according to consensus opinion of those who evaluated it). Others were given the photo of an unattractive woman.
8 hours ago (1:26 PM)
Absolutely true, at the end of the day there is nothing that is purely a benefit. Got a great education; oops, economy tanked and now you’re overqualified for all available jobs. Very wealthy; oops, now you’re surrounded by yesmen and lackeys etc.
Obviously, the trade-off choice between uneducated/educated, beautiful/ugly, wealthy/poor is pretty obvious. The disadvantages of one are definitely less than the other.
However, what about the difference between ‘fairly attractive’ and ‘super attractive’?
7 hours ago (2:40 PM)
Yes I find that being beautiful is problematic at times. But being well-endowed has been equally difficult.
2 hours ago (7:41 PM)
Not surprised by this at all. Jealousy is a pretty basic human emotion.