Society expects good-looking people to be do-gooders: study

A new study has discovered a “fascinating link” between appearance and behavior, suggesting there is indeed more to beauty than meets the eye.

Findings published in the Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization show that attractive people are expected by others to be more generous and kind. Furthermore, the researchers found that the reverse was also true—people who looked good were also perceived as good-looking.

People form basic judgments about others—their potential as friends or foes—in just one second after introduction, and appearance arguably plays the biggest role in how we initially evaluate others.

Attractiveness is so important to those who study human behavior that they consider it a form of social currency known as the “beauty premium.” More colloquially, this phenomenon is known as “considerable privilege,” whereby attractive people receive preferential treatment because of their appearance. Previous research has shown that, on average, the most beautiful among us are seen as more trustworthy, cooperative, and likeable.

But do beautiful people generally deserve this privilege? The study’s author, Kajsa Hansson, and her colleagues at the University of Economics and Business in Vienna sought to investigate why hot girls are perceived as less naughty, PsyPost reported.

A series of game-based assessments of 249 players with an average age of 42 showed that their more attractive avatars were generally treated more favorably, while also being perceived as behaving more kindly towards others.

“We found that people generally expect attractive people to behave more generously. However, the opposite is also true: Generous people are seen as more attractive,” the study authors wrote.

“Understanding this can help us challenge our biases so we can make fairer judgments and actions.”