Page 324 - Discrimination at Work The Psychological and Organizational Bases

12. PHYSICALLY UNATTRACTIVE BIAS
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A crucial cognitive factor in determining reactions to the physically
attractive or unattractive are the causal attributions that perceivers make
for the appearance of these individuals. To the extent that perceivers see
unattractiveness as something under the control of the other, then negative
stereotyping of that person is much more severe (Jones et al., 1984). For
instance, the traits attributed to obese individuals are usually quite negative
because their weight is seen as something that is their doing (Dejong &
Kleck, 1986; Maddox, Back, & Liederman, 1968).
The end result of biases in information processing is that persons tend to
perceive the attractive individual as providing a better fit to the organiza­
tion and the job (Heilman, 1983). Two processes seem to be involved here.
Evaluators attribute characteristics to the attractive and unattractive ratees
on the basis of their categorizations of these individuals. They then assess
the degree to which the stimulus person possesses the characteristics as­
sociated with the stereotype of the ideal person in the job or organization.
Attractive persons tend to be seen as possessing more of the attributes re­
quired in the job and are consequently evaluated more positively than the
unattractive ratee. Raters are biased, but for what they think are the best
of reasons.

Affective Sources of Attractiveness Bias

Attractiveness bias can result not only from what is known about the at­
tractive and the unattractive person but also from the way the perceiver
feels about the person. Thus, attractiveness biases are mediated not only by
cognitive processes but also by emotional responses that the perceiver may
be unaware of and unable to control. Zajonc (1980, 1984) argues that sen­
sory input of the person's appearance directly evokes affect, without the
involvement of mediating mental processes. The importance of affective
responses reflects the fact that "Before we evolved language and our cog­
nitive capacities, which are so deeply dependent on language, it was the
affective system alone upon which the organism relied for its adaptation"
(p. 170). Possibly indicative of an affective basis for appearance bias, infants
as young as three months old prefer female faces judged as attractive more
than faces judged as unattractive (Jackson, 1992; Langlois, Ritter, Roggman,
& Vaughn, 1991; Langlois, Roggman, Casey, & Ritter, 1987). Simply show­
ing pictures of physically attractive and unattractive people induces affec­
tive states that have important behavioral and attitudinal consequences
(Larsen, Diener, & Cropanzano, 1987). Also, the presentation of deformed
faces has been shown to evoke strong autonomic responses (Aamot, 1978).
Negative responses to unattractive persons also may reflect the violation
of unconscious psychological needs. Just as racial discrimination or sexism