THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF APPEARANCE TO OCCUPATIONAL OUTCOMES IN CIVILIAN AND MILITARY SETTINGS

Two archival studies examined the impact of people's appearance on the status and type of civilian and military jobs they hold. Study 1 foun d that, although appearance was not related to job status, taller men had higher incomes. Additionally, appearance was significantly related to the type of jobs people held. Attractive women and tall men held j obs requiring traits more consistent with the attractiveness halo, whi le babyfaced women and short men held jobs more consistent with the ba byface stereotype. These effects remained after controlling for job-re levant personality and educational variables, suggesting an unjustifie d bias toward people with certain appearances. Study 2 found that heav ier men had lower job status, as reflected in military rank attainment . However, this relationship was eliminated when controlling for intel ligence and dependability. Also, babyfaced men achieved higher status through being marginally more likely to win a military award. This une xpected effect was attributed to the contrast between heroic actions a nd the babyface stereotype. Finally, appearance affected the type of m ilitary experience men had. Heavier men were more likely to be in situ ations involving gunfire or causalties. These studies make an importan t contribution by extending laboratory findings to the real world, exp loring the effects of appearance on job type as well as status, and pr oviding evidence that appearance effects are not solely due to covaria tion with bona fide job qualifications.