Bias in the Hiring Process, Part 8

Beauty Bias is the Beast

It is the most natural thing in the world to be drawn to beauty.   And, as it turns out, what constitutes beauty in humans is fairly universal.  There is a high level of agreement regarding facial features that people like within and across cultures.  A study conducted of White Scottish people and Black South African people showed significant agreement of who they considered “good looking”, both within and across cultures.  And similar studies have confirmed their findings many times.  Indeed, there appears to be a universality of beauty standards.  How a person looks matters.  That explains why the beauty care industry is exploding with global sales projected to be $534B for 2022. 

This fixation on beauty is not just a human phenomenon.  It is also true of many animal species.  There are plenty of examples of stunning beauty in the animal kingdom.  The bright elastic throats of anole lizards.  The male flame bowerbird’s plumage which transitions seamlessly from molten red to sunshine yellow.  The Fabergé abdomens of peacock spiders.  The curling, iridescent, absurdly long feathers of birds-of-paradise and peacocks.  Mallards with emerald heads.  Tree swallows with iridescent turquoise capes.  Sparrows with swoops of yellow around the eye, a delicate pink beak, and a copper crown. Lady poison dart frogs with patterns of electric blue swirls that are equally beautiful and deadly.  The scaleless mandarinfish with its butterfly-like colorful patterns.  Nature is full of outer beauty.  The incredible array of bright, shimmering colors, complex patterns, and elaborate plumage throughout the animal kingdom indicates that for many species, beauty also matters and is rewarded. 

Beautiful people generally fare better in life.  This partiality favoring beauty is one of the most common biases, whether consciously or unconsciously.  The beauty bias confers favorable treatment on individuals deemed more attractive and ignores those who might be deemed unattractive, overweight, oddly-dressed, very old, or don’t fit with society’s view of ‘good looks’ in one way or another.

Beauty and Work

This preference seeps into all aspect of life including wok.  Good looking individuals are more likely to be interviewed and hired for jobs, more likely to advance rapidly in their careers through frequent promotions, and more likely to earn higher wages than unattractive individuals.  This is not speculation or conjecture.  It has been proven repeatedly. 

Case in point.  In one study conducted by the University of Messina and the Marche Polytechnic University in Italy, over 10,000 resumes were sent to prospective employers, with the same employment background but with each differing on the name and photo included on the resume. Across the board, resumes received an average 30% call back rate.  Applicants called back were invited to interview.  But the call back rate was well above average for resumes where the person in the photo was considered good looking.  Good looking women had a call back rate of nearly 55% while 47% of the handsome men were called back.  But just 26% of less attractive men were called back and unattractive women had lowest call back rate at just 7%.  Only those called back had a chance of securing the job.

Also, StatisticBrain, an online statistics research service, noted that good looking workers are hired with a salary 10% higher than individuals considered to be unattractive, and are more likely to get bigger raises and promotions.  Extrapolated over a person’s lifetime, that adds up to a considerable amount of additional earning. 

The Problem with Hiring for Looks

So what’s wrong?  Is there something inherently wrong with hiring the person who is good looking?  Couldn’t a person be smart and good looking?  Of course.  In fact, statistically speaking, good looking people might actually be smarter.  There is a small, positive correlation between beauty and brains.  Psychologist Satoshi Kanazawa pulled huge datasets from two sources—the National Child Development Study in the UK (including 17,000 people born in 1958), and the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health in the US (including 21,000 people born around 1980)—both of which included ratings on how a person looks and scores on standard intelligence tests.  When Kanazawa analyzed the numbers, he found the two were related.  In the U.K., for example, good looking children had an IQ score that was, on average, 12.4 points higher than those who weren’t good looking.  The relationship held even when he controlled for family background, race, and body size.  So hiring a good looking candidate might also mean hiring the person with the higher IQ.

That said, the issue with hiring for looks is not about the good looking person not being smart.  There are some other potential pitfalls that can come with hiring for beauty.

• They often expect higher pay – Beautiful people often expect to receive higher compensation. These are people who have always enjoyed more attention in their families, with friends and in everything they do.  That extra attention at an early age often makes them feel they deserve “more” even at work and even if they lack the deserved skills. They might feel entitled and often seek pay higher than what their skills justify. 
• They tend to equate beauty with brains – People who are good looking (and know it) are often boastful and equate beauty with skills and experience.  Such candidates tend to use their looks to get a job, effectively convincing people that beauty confers ability.  But, that is definitely not true in most occupations. 
• They have too much ego – Good looking people are used to people letting them have their way.  Because of this, they don’t develop strong social skills.  They may not know how to collaborate, cooperate and work in a team because they’ve never had to negotiate, share or win over others. 
• They can generate resentment among colleagues – The good looks that attract some might also scare away others who feel inferior when such a person joins their team.  This starts as a problem for coworkers, but eventually can become a poison pill in an organization.  But, if someone causes conflicts, demotivates others and affects team performance simply by how they look, then they are not worth keeping as an employee regardless of how they look.
• They generate accusations of favoritism – It could be difficult for HR personnel to convince staff that the company is not favoring good looking people if the people hired for key jobs are attractive but not necessarily skilled to do the work.  This could alienate top talent and affect a company’s reputation.
• They don’t always put forth maximum effort – Beautiful people may not be driven to do a great job because they often have gotten by on just their looks.   They think their good looks is enough and don’t need to prove themselves.
• They often have a dominant personality – While being bold and self-confident is good, it can be excessive in beautiful people.  Good looking people are accustomed to dominating the attention of those around them and get into a habit of overpowering every setting. 

Breaking the Beauty Bias in Hiring

Based on this, it might seem easy to decide to hire for skill, experience and attitude and not consider how candidates look.  If no one’s resume includes a photo, then it would be just a person’s qualifications that would secure the job interview. Seems like a simple solution.  But in the digital age, online profiles on LinkedIn nearly always include a photo.  That means that a person’s looks often influences their chance of being interviewed.  And, even companies that do a blind screening of applicants would likely still do face-to-face interviews either via video conference or in person.  There, once again, attractiveness might influence the decision-making process.  So breaking the beauty bias is harder than it seems.

The first step is awareness.  Being aware of beauty bias is a critical first step in overcoming it.  Hiring managers need to be alert to when beauty bias might be arising in the workplace.  It also helps to teach employees to identify and recognize beauty bias through workshops and training sessions.  Another way to eradicate beauty bias is to have a team of people involved in the hiring process who are able to view each candidate from a different perspective.  By following a series of steps to identify and avoid beauty bias, there is a higher chance of ensuring that “the book isn’t judged by the cover.”

Quote of the Week

“Things are not always what they seem; the first appearance deceives many; the intelligence of a few perceives what has been carefully hidden.” Plato

© 2022, Keren Peters-Atkinson. All rights reserved.

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