“The Financial Benefits of Being Beautiful”
Written by: Derek Thompson from the Atlantic
Commentary by: Sam Smathers 4th
Studies
have proven that business executives and CEOs will pay a prettier person more.
It is proven that when meeting a person that appears to look trustworthier due
to physical attributes such as an inviting smile, humans automatically assume
the person is trustworthy. This is the same for when we meet a raggedy looking
person, we assume that they smoke pot all-day and live in their parent’s
basement. Essentially the business world pays a beauty premium that adds up to
be around $230,000 a career. It is important to have the face of your company
be a pretty face that looks friendly because this face will be at meetings and
on TV representing your company. First impressions mean everything and that
means not only what the person says but also what they look like.
The problem
with this is that we value pretty people above other people simply because
inherently somewhere in our lives someone has hinted that pretty people are
better. No mater how society is structured someone will be valued above someone
else, the problem is the roots in which these deductions of who is trustworthy
or not is made. Associating a guy with a long beard wearing a beanie and some
sort of woven poncho driving a beat up car with being a lazy pot smoker is the
problem with society. We associate intelligence with looking nice, not looking
sexy, just nice. And this deduction is completely false. We need to change the
way we perceive intelligence. With this being an internal individual issue this
cannot reasonably happen in a wide scale manner unless we changed all
propaganda and pop culture to endorse the belief of intelligence overriding
appearance. I have a problem with the stereotypes not with the result of them,
I couldn’t care less if one person was paid more than the other as long as it
is based on a trait that can be acquired not one that you are born with. No one
has control over how large their nose is or what body type they are born with
and creating a stereotype around that is shallow and disgraceful.
http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/01/the-financial-benefits-of-being-beautiful/282975/
I agree that the way we value attractive people more is deeply shallow, and since this phenomenon clearly enters the work place, a form of discrimination. However, I think that judging based on the way they present themselves (not there underlying physical appearance) is less reprehensible. These judgements should not be held on to, because obviously stereotypes are often incorrect, however the clothes we wear, the hairstyles, and in general the styles that we choose for ourselves is often an intentional and somewhat accurate reflection of the social circles we belong to. This may seem superficial, yet it is a natural extension of an evolutionary instinct. Upon first meeting another person, to refuse to make any assumptions about that person would leave one utterly defenseless. Sherlock Holmes style we all begin to deduce who that person is how they could potentially interact with us. The association with "looking nice" and intelligence arrises from the simple fact that people that are conventionally intelligent are statistically more likely to be successful. When one makes these assumptions, one is simply utilizing one's experience to way the odds. The problem only arises when we either insists upon holding onto these assumptions even when presented with counter evidence or when we judge a person based on genetic traits, such a the largeness of their nose, as you stated. When judgements such as these occur I am in thunderous agreement with you. "Pretty" people should not be payed more or valued more highly.
ReplyDeleteOne of the reasons why a person might pay or value a "pretty" or visually attractive person more is, unfortunately, because we as humans are wired this way. It is our nature; our eyes are drawn to beauty. This concept is blatantly used in advertising and it triggers something in our subconscious that gives us an urge to go buy that product, eat that food, etc. However, as you said, the physical appearance is not a determining factor in whether a person is suitable for a certain job, extra pay, etc. Lastly, large corporate business owners, or those who are in charge need to realize that they lose profitability if they turndown the more intelligent person for the more attractive person who is less intelligent.
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