Study finds 'very' unattractive people earn significantly more

While it has always been believed that life can be far easier for people with good looks, a recent study published in the Journal of Business and Psychology, has found that there is a caveat to this ‘beauty premium.’

According to Satoshi Kanazawa from the London School of Economics and Political Science and Mary Still from the University of Massachusetts in Boston, a study of 20,000 young people found that the theory, there is a ‘ugliness penalty’ on wages is not that simple.

When other traits were taken into account, such as health and intelligence, results showed people who were more conscientious, extroverted and less neurotic earned significantly more than others.

Interestingly, participants who were labeled as being ‘very unattractive’ always earned more than those who were juts ‘unattractive.’

This was also sometimes the case when very unattractive people were compared to those who were average looking and attractive.

According to Alex Fradera, personality trait openness to Experience may have been surprisingly correlated with lower earnings and higher attractiveness in this particular data set, when it is usually associated with higher pay.