THE EFFECTS OF HAIR COLOR AND COSMETIC USE ON PERCEPTIONS OF A FEMALES ABILITY

This experiment examined whether a female applicant's hair color and u se of cosmetics might affect perceptions of her ability for a professi onal position. One hundred thirty six college students reviewed the id entical professional resume of a female applicant for the position of a staff accountant. Attached to the resume was a photograph of the sti mulus female applicant either wearing or not wearing cosmetics and dep icted with brunette, red, or blonde hair color. The results demonstrat ed significant main effects of both hair color and cosmetic use. Speci fically, the applicant was rated more capable and was assigned a highe r salary both when depicted with brunette hair color and when depicted without cosmetics. There were no interactions between hair color and cosmetic use. The findings demonstrate that biases regarding personal appearance may affect judgments about a female applicant's ability.