Page 318 - Discrimination at Work The Psychological and Organizational Bases

12. PHYSICALLY UNATTRACTIVE BIAS
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Attractiveness was a stronger correlate of recruiter evaluations of firm-
specific fit than were objective characteristics of the applicants such as
GPA, sex, business experience, major and extracurricular activities.
A limitation of much of the field research showing a relationship of
attractiveness to selection outcomes is that it is open to alternative inter­
pretations such as the possibility that attractive applicants have higher
objective qualifications or greater social skill (Goldman & Lewis, 1977;
Reingen, Gresham, & Kernan, 1980). Indeed, Langlois et al. (2000) con­
cluded that beauty is more than skin deep. They found that attractiveness
is positively related to a variety of attributes in adults including physical
health, extraversion, traditional attitudes, self-esteem, social skills, mental
health, and intelligence. These effects were larger when the attractiveness
measure included the face plus other cues than when the measure was
based on face only.
Showing that bias against unattractive persons is independent of these
attributes requires research in which attractive and unattractive persons are
judged who have the same objective qualifications. Experimental research
providing such control has consistently has shown a bias against unattrac­
tive persons among both college student subjects and organizational gate­
keepers such as recruiters (Hosoda et al., 2003). A limitation of much of
this experimental research is its obtrusiveness, i.e., it is obvious to partici­
pants that they are subjects in research. However, the bias against unattrac­
tive persons has been found in the few unobtrusive field experiments that
have been conducted. Benson, Severs, Tagenhorst, & Loddengaard (1980)
sent a cover letter and resume of a fictitious applicant to 70 male pub­
lic health administrators who were unaware of the bogus nature of the
inquiry. In the letter accompanying the resume, the applicant requested
career guidance. Weight of the person was manipulated by including a pic­
ture that depicted the applicant as either normal in weight or overweight
(her clothing was padded). Only 27% of the inquiries in the overweight
condition received a reply, compared to 57% in the normal weight con­
dition. When the nature of the response was examined, only 29% of the
respondents in the overweight condition conveyed optimism about em­
ployment prospects of the applicant compared to 81 % in the normal weight
condition.

Physical Attractiveness in Performance Appraisal and Promotions

The greater occupational success of attractive employees relative to
unattractive employees could also reflect biases in performance appraisal
and promotion. In complex jobs where decision makers may have difficulty
in reaching consensus as to what should or should not be important,