Beauty Pays: Why Attractive People Are More Successful

by Daniel S. Hamermesh

Most of us know there is a payoff to looking good, and in the quest for beauty we spend countless hours and billions of dollars on personal grooming, cosmetics, and plastic surgery. But how much better off are the better looking? Based on the evidence, quite a lot. The first book to seriously measure the advantages of beauty, Beauty Pays demonstrates how society favors the beautiful and how better-looking people experience startling but undeniable benefits in all aspects of life. Noted economist Daniel Hamermesh shows that the attractive are more likely to be employed, work more productively and profitably, receive more substantial pay, obtain loan approvals, negotiate loans with better terms, and have more handsome and highly educated spouses. Hamermesh explains why this happens and what it means for the beautiful--and the not-so-beautiful--among us. Exploring whether a universal standard of beauty exists, Hamermesh illustrates how attractive workers make more money,

Genres: Economics, Psychology, Nonfiction, Self Help, Sociology, Social Science, Society

224 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2011

Reviews

[Monika Bogdanowicz · Rating 2 out of 5]

I initially thought the idea of investigating beauty from the economic point of view was an innovative and brilliant one. And whilst the concept behind this book truly is great, the execution is sadly unsatisfactory. The book is written in a very dry and stiff manner making an interesting topic rather dull. It relies on a vast breadth of research but it presents it all in a very inaccessible way. Finally, whilst it does look at various angles of beauty and its impact on employers, spouses and law, it hardly presents any shocking or unexpected findings. For the most part, it sets rather obvious hypotheses and simply confirms them with findings from a number of studies. A disappointing read.

[Theodore Kinni · Rating 3 out of 5]

This review of the economic benefits of beauty probably would have been a more compelling magazine article. The bottom line: you make a bit more if you're good lookin' and your company may be more profitable, too. I wouldn't know.

[Marina · Rating 1 out of 5]

I feel like there are some not well funded statements through the book. A little bit tone deaf and out of touch with reality... For example, he says "...women select into this occupation (prostitution) partly based on their looks..." after clearly stating that in studies interviewing prostitutes 20% only had college education... But yes "based on their looks...". Not worth reading for me

[Vivian Strange · Rating 4 out of 5]

The novel, Beauty Pays, is an economic book written by Daniel S. Hamermesh explaining the correlation of being attractive with success. He explains that more attractive people are more likely to be get a job and be paid more than someone who see as average looking or less attractive. This correlation is very similar to the correlation of people finding spouses. For example, someone who is above average looking is very likely to find a spouse that is above average looking. The author first explains what makes someone physically attractive. He explains that the face plays the biggest factor when measuring beauty. There are other factors that play a role, like weight and presentation, but something that most people admire is a symmetric face. Age is also an important factor. Younger individuals are seen as more attractive than those who are more aged. Of course, the definition of beauty is different in different countries and cultures. For females, looks are different for males. Females are judged a lot more than males when it comes to physical attractiveness. There is evidence that proves that people see more of a distinction of attractive in women than men. Above average looking women earn 4 percent more than the average-looking, while above-average men earn 3 percent more. However, Hamermesh assures that beauty is not the only factor. Education, age, health, marital status, race (minorities earn less than non-Hispanic whites), region, and years with the company also play factors in one’s pay.
The author does, however, offer a solution to those who may not be as fortunate to have the favorable features that are sought for. For people who weren’t born to have attractive features or have been an accident that takes those way, Hamermesh mentions that plastic surgery has been a solution to many females. In 2007, Americans had over 4.6 million injections of Botox, 285,000 nose surgeries, and 241,000 eyelid surgeries. For many women, the money and time into surgeries is worth the money.
There is also many benefits for companies with attractive employees. For example, in sales, a customer will trust the employee more, and be more likely to buy the company’s product. So overall, being more attractive will not only benefit the individual, but will benefit the company too.
I thought that this book was very interesting. It is very eye opening how looking a certain way can affect your chance of employment, pay, and how you may get treated around the workplace. I think the author did a really great job of getting the message across on the benefits of beauty. The novel was really easy to follow and, the author provided many examples and analogies that help readers understand the economic concepts. This book made me think about how important it is to stay healthy and take care of myself because in the future, I will be relying on the opinions of my employers. My appearance, in clothes, face, and physique, are things I will be sure to put time in in order to increase my chances of being successful.

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a serious book about beauty and economics. It does describe that good looking people earn more, find good looking mates, and even generate more profits for their employers. Good looking people generally have jobs where having good looks is an advantage. However, it also explores the moral aspects of beauty, such as whether non-good looking people should be protected with anti-discriminatory laws, and how the economic quantum can be used in accident claims where the victim's looks is significantly decreased.

Overall one of the most scientific book about beauty.

[Brittany · Rating 1 out of 5]

Really wanted to like this, but did not. I didn't even finish!! Some data referenced was taken from the 1970s, and I felt like the author made connections but failed to explain clearly how he came to those conclusions. Interesting topic though! Might be a better article than entire book.

[Stephen Cranney · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good review of the scientific literature on the subject.

[Arbraxan · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Beauty Pays" is an interesting example of how economics can be leveraged to analyse social issues. The book touches upon a broad range of issues in "pulchreconomics", though in some cases - as Hamermesh straightforwardly admits - there is simply not (yet) enough evidence to draw clear conclusions.
My favorite example herein is a study of a Shanghainese sample of women that finds that spending on cosmetics is correlated with higher beauty rankings, though the marginal returns are subpar (4 cents of additional earnings per dollar spent on cosmetics) and decreasing; the study promptly declares that primping yourself doesn't pay. However, the correct test for the research question would require to compare a woman's wages under primping with a fictive counterfactual of the same woman's wages without primping.
Finally, the book is at times slightly repetitive. Nonetheless, it makes for an interesting read.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I skimmed through this one, but the main point came across clearly: looks matter—a lot more than we’d like to admit. The data show that being unattractive puts people at a disadvantage in income, marriage, and many other aspects of life. It’s a bit brutal, honestly.

That said, it doesn’t mean you need to go for extreme measures like plastic surgery. Small things—taking care of your skin, improving posture, paying attention to how you present yourself—can make a difference. A sobering but practical read.

[Henry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating book. In essence, the author argues that (what we already know) society places beauty premium of about 10%-15% of beautiful people over average looking people, due to the fact that beauty is a scarcity. And that females can typically "marry up" with looks as a bump. However, (what we don't often know), the author finds that statistically speaking, "ugly" tax is massively more taking than the beauty bump and that male benefits more on beauty than female. The author speculate reasoning of the latter as unlike females who traditionally have more outside roles she can participate in than jobs, for males, they seldom have any outside roles. Thus their beauty in the work site is more emphasized than otherwise. Lastly, the author also noted that due to assortive mating, beautiful man often will marry equally beautiful female and equal in social capital.

[Charlyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very reasonable and readable book.

[Ramesh Shrestha]

A good summary of how good looking individuals get hired and get paid more; something people always believed!

[Zet · Rating 1 out of 5]

The topic was interesting. But the execution is 👎

[elephantnose · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very much a waste of time if you are capable of reading economic article yourself. This feels like unnecessarily dumbed down to sale as one of those airport bookstore bestsellers.

[John Kane · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very comprehensive review of the economic literature on the returns to beauty in labor, marriage, and financial markets.