Studies (and living life) have long indicated that there is a “beauty premium” (also called a “plainness penalty”) where the more attractive among us are more likely to land jobs, secure promotions, and just generally have more cash than their less comely counterparts. Or as Tina Fey explained it to Jon Hamm on that one episode of 30 Rock, really really good looking people essentially get to live in a bubble of better treatment than the rest of us.
But a recent study from the brainy folks at PLOS suggests that not only are humans superficial and shallow, but we’re also easily manipulated. (SURPRISE!) So what did we do to deserve such labels this time? Well — to date face research has been mostly focused on what we might call natural beauty — face shape, size, symmetry, configuration, and movement of facial features, but until the PLOS team recently took it on, scientists hadn’t actually ventured into how grooming, styling, and makeup, affected how we judge our proverbial book covers. Oh Science, you so crazy.
For humans, clothes, makeup, scents, etc. serve as our version of “signaling”, essentially the equivalent of a Peacock’s fanned out tail feathers or a Baboon’s big swollen red butt. For the purposes of this study, the focus was the use of colored cosmetics and the results were staggering, so you can only imagine what hair style, jewelry, and clothes might add to the equation.
What does your makeup say about you? And more importantly, how can you now manipulate science to your advantage and get people to give you what you want? …Continue Reading…