Picture ©Lightworks-Gallery, V. Schrader
A small series of articles by Dr. med. Margrit Lettko (Medical Director of the Network Aesthetics) and Dirk Brandl (Speaker Network Aesthetics)
Have you already read the first three parts of this series of articles? If not, then follow this link to get to the very beginning, or the following links to get to part 2, part 3 or part 4.
The social importance of attractiveness
Even if the first impression is controlled by our instinctive reproductive mechanisms, there is much more to being attractive to other people in the long run. With the first impression we have only crossed the first threshold, nothing more.
Let us first look at the effects of attractiveness. Bernd Guggenberger, Professor of Political Science, says: ” The beautiful man lives in another world; he is surrounded by a Faraday cage of social care and caring desire”. And further: “Beauty embodies social power in a similarly pure immediacy as otherwise only raw physical strength. Beauty is by its very nature deeply undemocratic and grossly violates our sense of justice. What we deserve should be earned. Beauty is one of our last taboos and a great “annoyance in the era of equality”. Seen in this light, beauty can only be seen as a scandal, with the very early experience of the social power of the attractive.
Results of attractiveness research
Attractive people are preferred in many social areas, social situations and even in personal interactions. This is suggested by at least numerous studies that have examined individual aspects. We would like to name some of the studies here in a shorter form, without going into too much detail, because these studies hardly influence our work in aesthetics. What we should just remember is that people want to increase their attractiveness for good reasons. If you feel the same way, you know now that you are not alone in this.
- Attractiveness stereotype
In the past, there have been many studies on the provocative question: Is nice also good? Their results were quite similar. Attractive people were attributed or attributed more abilities and better character traits, regardless of the gender of both the people and the evaluators. The more attractive a person is, the more good qualities they have (attractiveness stereotype). It is definitely better to be beautiful or attractive because it pays off in childhood. Beautiful people have a clear advantage, get more attention and more patience. - From childhood on
Based on a meta-analysis (= an analysis of various individual analyses), Langlois concluded that attractive children and adults are not only judged more positively than unattractive children and adults – even by those who know them – but that they are also treated more positively. Such judgments are also incorporated into the interaction between mother and child. Motherly love is therefore not absolute and not always unconditional and certainly not equally distributed among all siblings. - Intelligence
Almost all studies in the past have shown that the more attractive people are also perceived as more competent and intelligent compared to the less attractive ones. This stereotypical power is strongest when there is almost no relevant information about competence and intelligence. This stereotypical assessment then inevitably leads to such people being treated differently, without the actors being aware of it. - Social competence
The accommodation of the environment has a lasting effect on the development of the personality and social skills and even seems to accelerate their intellectual development. The cumulative influence of such positive interactions must leave traces in the personality and social skills. - Career
Attractive applicants have the better chances when it comes to recruitment and also climb the career ladder more quickly later on. Markus Möbius and Tanya Rosenblatt from Harvard University already showed experimentally in 2004 that the more attractive candidates were clearly preferred in terms of hiring and salary, whereby the better appearance of the more attractive candidates was due to higher social competence and their better communication skills. According to Hakim, the business value of erotic capital seems to increase and rises many times over when economic, cultural and social capital is also present. Those who have money can afford a beautiful woman or man. The probability that such connections also produce children with above-average erotic capital must be greater than in other connections. The idea that in the long run this will also lead to the development of biologically manifested class differences cannot be dismissed. When applying for a management position, however, the stereotype “female” is quickly brought out in women – “soft, little assertiveness”. The Wirtschaftswoche therefore even recommends its female readers to wear masculine equipment (e.g. a suit). - Status and salary
Especially in the area of work, the factor of attractiveness seems to be increasingly consolidated. The more services are expected, the more important this factor becomes. The advantage of attractiveness from childhood is also maintained in later life. On the executive floors, the big players are among themselves. More than 90% of managers in leading German companies are 1.80 m and taller. Almost 50% measure over 1.90 m. The average man is 1.77 m. For men, height seems to be important when it comes to position and income, for women it probably does not matter. A height of 1.91 m for men and at least 1.60 m for women is considered the best prerequisite for career advancement. The top third of men earn 5% more and women 4% more.
The effect of the attractiveness stereotype does not seem to be limited to first impression situations, but is most powerful here. The better we know someone, the less weight the stereotype has. Whoever is blessed with a pleasant appearance simply has more creditworthiness. We live in a class society dominated by beauty (and of course capital), but we don’t notice it or we don’t want to admit it.
In the VI and last part of our series we look at why Botox makes you happy. You will also find an overview of all the works discussed or quoted there.