Soulmate Gem
Photo by Đặng Thanh Tú Pexels Logo Photo: Đặng Thanh Tú

What are the disadvantages of being a beautiful girl?

Five disadvantages of being beautiful Beautiful people are less likely to be hired (sometimes) ... Disadvantages of being beautiful: beauty is beastly. ... The pretty are perceived to be less talented. ... Lucky to be pretty. ... Disadvantages of being beautiful: social rejection.

What meeting your soulmate feels like?
What meeting your soulmate feels like?

You feel an effortless connection A soulmate can be someone who is incredibly compatible with you. They are someone who enjoys the things you do,...

Read More »
How do you know if someone likes you without talking?
How do you know if someone likes you without talking?

There are a few nonverbal cues that instantly let you know if someone is interested in you: Mutual Eye Contact. People look at people they like and...

Read More »

Although we associate beauty with truth, there are disadvantages of being beautiful, as it is threatening and sparks people’s defences. Beautiful people are all around us: on billboards, on TV and at the movies — some of them even inhabit our everyday lives. Great beauty in another person inspires all kinds of emotions: admiration, desire, hope, despair and sometimes envy.

So what is the psychological effect of beauty and how do other people react to it?

In fact, there are disadvantages of being beautiful, or so the psychological research suggests. Here are both sides of the coin, first five disadvantages of being beautiful and then five advantages of being attractive and pretty.

Five disadvantages of being beautiful

Here’s the what research says about the disadvantages of being beautiful.

The beauty bias (more on that below) is probably not as strong as some have suggested and not as powerful as we might imagine (Eagly et al., 1991). For example, when it comes to income, in most lines of work it’s better to be smarter than more attractive (Judge et al., 2009). The same goes for persuasion, self-esteem and even attraction: other personal qualities can easily trump beauty.

So, psychologists have begun to uncover the dark side of being beautiful.

Given what we already know about the beautiful it may be difficult to have much sympathy, but here are five disadvantages of being beautiful:

1. Beautiful people are less likely to be hired (sometimes)

Although beauty can help in the search for a job, it’s not always true. When employers are making a decision about someone of the same sex, they can let their jealousy get the better of them. One study has suggested that people who are highly attractive are at a disadvantage in the hiring process when the decision-makers are the same sex (Agthe et al., 2011). It seems we perceive beautiful people who are the same sex as a threat.

2. Disadvantages of being beautiful: beauty is beastly

Similarly there’s evidence that female beauty can be a problem in jobs with strong gender stereotypes. For example, a beautiful woman may be at a disadvantage when applying for a job which is associated with masculinity, like a prison guard or a mechanical engineer (Johnson et al, 2010). The same doesn’t seem to be true for attractive men — so it’s just one of the disadvantages of being an attractive woman.

How to free yourself?
How to free yourself?

The 6 Simplest Ways To Free Yourself Evaluate your self-worth. Your self-worth has everything to do with how you see yourself, the places you...

Read More »
How do you keep a man always wanting you?
How do you keep a man always wanting you?

How to Keep a Man Interested In You Express gratitude and appreciation. ... Prioritize communication over complaints. ... Respect his personal...

Read More »

They can happily apply for jobs as nurses, lingerie salespersons or HR managers without their beauty counting against them.

3. The pretty are perceived to be less talented

The halo effect tells us that when we judge more attractive members of the opposite sex, we generally assume they’re more talented than those who are less attractive. This happens even though what they do or say is no cleverer than less attractive people.

But this changes when it’s members of the same sex.

In a study by Anderson and Nida (1978) highly attractive people of the same sex were judged as less talented than average-looking people.

4. Lucky to be pretty

If beautiful people are successful, is it because of their talent, or is it just their looks?

After all, people are lucky to be attractive and we know all the advantages of that. Research finds that when judging their own sex, people are more likely to think beautiful people’s success is down to their beauty, not their talent (Forsterling et al., 2007). So you’re lucky to be pretty, but probably just rely on that rather than talent.

5. Disadvantages of being beautiful: social rejection

People in relationships also protect themselves from beauty by ignoring it.

Research shows that when we’re thinking about love we automatically ignore attractive members of the opposite sex, probably to protect our feelings about our long-term partner (Maner et al., 2008).

Five advantages of being attractive

1. What is beautiful is good

In many situations we automatically defer to beauty, assuming that along with beauty come all sorts of other positive characteristics. We have a tendency to think beautiful people are funnier, more friendly, more intelligent, more exciting, in possession of better social skills, are sexually warmer, are more interesting, poised and even more independent. These sorts of judgements have been tested over-and-over again in the laboratory and elsewhere. This is a great example of the so-called ‘halo effect‘: when global evaluations about a person bleed over into our judgements about their specific traits.

So, in this case being pretty is hardly a disadvantage.

2. Attractive people are more desired

Is creativity a part of IQ?
Is creativity a part of IQ?

Below an IQ level of 120, a correlation between IQ and creativity is observed, whereas no correlation is observed at IQ levels above 120. The basic...

Read More »
What zodiac has ice?
What zodiac has ice?

Water — 4 – Cancer; 8 – Scorpio; 12 – Pisces – cold, wet, soft.

Read More »

There’s a whole stack of research on mate selection and attractiveness.

You won’t find the headline result at all surprising: on pure looks alone we prefer partners who are more beautiful. Of course that assumes that everything else is equal, which it normally isn’t.

3. Beautiful people are better persuaders

Good-looking people make better persuaders (Chaiken, 1979).

This may be because attractive people tend to be better communicators and possess more confidence or just because we believe in beauty.

Whatever the reason, beauty can persuade us to change our minds.

4. Good looking people get paid more

At work attractive people can receive all kinds of benefits.

First of all they may get higher starting salaries, perhaps because their qualifications are perceived as more solid and their potential as greater (this is the halo effect workings its magic).

Then, later on, they have an advantage in promotions.

5. Attractive people have higher self-esteem

Not surprisingly, given all the above advantages, good-looking people also have higher self-esteem.

What with all those dates and the extra money, is it any wonder they think better of themselves than their less fortunate peers?

Gender and jealousy

Most of the research on the disadvantages of being beautiful has been done on heterosexuals but it’s possible similar biases operate for gay people. For both gay and straight, the extent of the biases related to the disadvantages of being beautiful probably depends on how attractive you are (or at least how attractive you perceive yourself to be). People who are themselves attractive probably don’t feel as defensive around other attractive people, so the biases are likely to be weaker for them. Although we all know about the advantages of being pretty, it’s easy to forget the disadvantages of being beautiful.

This psychological research is a reminder that beauty can be threatening.

It can threaten our relationships, our work and our image of ourselves.

We admire it and defer to it, but sometimes we have to defend ourselves against it.

.

What are 4 things that inspire artists?
What are 4 things that inspire artists?

Four Sources of Inspiration for Creating Art Ordinary Experience. Most of children's spontaneous drawing fall in this category, often including...

Read More »
What zodiac signs are selfless?
What zodiac signs are selfless?

The 5 Most Selfless Zodiac Signs In All Of Astrology Cancer (June 21 - July 22) There's nothing Cancer wouldn't do for their loved ones. ... Pisces...

Read More »
Which Zodiacs are hard to date?
Which Zodiacs are hard to date?

The Most Incompatible Zodiac Signs That Should Never, Ever, Date, According to an Astrologer Aries and Cancer. Aries love to move quickly and...

Read More »
How do I know my twin flame is awakening?
How do I know my twin flame is awakening?

Twin flame awakening symptoms: 15 signs you're awakening your twin flame 1) You're feeling an intense connection to someone you've never met...

Read More »