Let us the advantages of being beautiful. Beauty isn’t subjective. Contrary to popular belief, men and women generally agree on who is and who isn’t physically attractive, even across different cultures.
The advantage of having high cheekbones, fuller lips, big eyes, and a thin chin are linked with sexiness in women. A big jaw and broad chin are preferred in men. Smooth skin, shiny hair, and facial symmetry are also key aspects of beauty.
According to various studies, these provide measures of health (good genes), intelligence (IQ), success (jobs), and good looks (happiness). More often than not, the world rewards beauty—and it’s not just because we’re all attracted to similarly beautiful people.
In the last few years, researchers have been studying facial symmetry. They’ve found that people tend to perceive faces as more attractive when they are symmetrical, even if it’s not related to actual health.
In an Australian study, researchers morphed photographs of young adults so that their faces were perfectly symmetrical. In general, the symmetric version of each face — both male and female — received higher health ratings than the normal image.
It turns out that our faces may be a source of more than just vanity. There is some evidence that individuals with more distinct facial features are more susceptible to disease, parasites, and other illnesses. Specifically, in a study of 17 year olds, researchers found that facial distinctiveness was linked to poor health in both men and women, either during childhood or adolescence. Facial averageness was linked to good health. One theory is that distinctive facial traits are tied to chromosomal disorders. The choice for average faces may have evolved as a way of identifying a mate with good genes.
Researchers at the University of New Mexico found that general intelligence is linked to body symmetry. A characteristic that is indicative of attractive qualities like health, social dominance, and fitness related biological traits.
They also found that good-looking people can use their sex appeal to command attention and to get ahead in life. Attractive people are more persuasive. They also possess or develop key personality traits — like intelligence and strong social skills — that make them more effective communicators. Researchers also found that compared to unattractive speakers, attractive speakers were much more fluent talkers.
“Our findings suggest that the most attractive people tend to be the most intelligent ones,” says lead researcher Dr. Eugene Caruso from the University of New Mexico’s Department of Psychology. “We think this is because having high levels of intelligence allows an individual to form long-term relationships with others.”
The study, commissioned by the Netherlands’ Economic Policy Committee, was conducted by researchers from the University of Twente and the University of Amsterdam. The team looked at the profiles of nearly 300 Dutch advertising agencies and found that firms with better-looking executives had higher revenues. Overall productivity, and resulting sales, were greater in companies with more attractive managers, partly because firms with more attractive workers have a competitive advantage when client interactions are involved.
The Finnish study found that both male and female political candidates who look better than their competitors are more successful. A better individual beauty score was associated with an increase of 20% in the number of votes for the average non incumbent parliamentary candidate. Perceived competence and trust worthiness had less of an effect. The study authors suggest that voters favor good looking candidates because they enjoy watching them and they fare better in social situations.
It is important to note that these findings may not apply to all cultures or countries, but it does raise some interesting questions about how we perceive beauty, intelligence, and competence.
Beautiful people are treated better by others. In a study from Harvard University, researchers found that wearing makeup, shown to enhance a woman’s attractiveness, boosted people’s perceptions of that subject’s competence, likability, attractiveness, and trust worthiness. These are the advantages of being beautiful.