It’s fairly well established that beauty matters professionally, and indeed I wrote about research to that effect earlier this year.  Good looking people tend to be more likely to get hired, secure better performance reviews, and subsequently get paid more.

Research from the University at Buffalo School of Management suggests things may go a bit deeper than we think, and that attractive people may also develop somewhat distinctive traits due to how the world responds to their looks.

“We wanted to examine whether there’s an overall bias toward beauty on the job, or if attractive people excel professionally because they’re more effective communicators,” the researchers say. “What we found was that while good looking people have a greater sense of power and are better nonverbal communicators, their less-attractive peers can level the playing field during the hiring process by adopting a powerful posture.”

The beauty premium

Across two studies, the researchers evaluated several hundred elevator pitches from people undergoing a mock job search.  In the first study, managers found the better-looking candidates to be more hirable because they perceived them to have a better nonverbal presence.

In the second study, volunteers were asked to adopt a “power pose”, in which they stood with their feet about a shoulder-width apart, with their hands on their hips, their chest out, and their chin up as they delivered their pitch.  By using this posture, they were able to overcome the beauty premium and more plain-looking individuals were rated as highly as their more attractive peers.

“By adopting the physical postures associated with feelings of power and confidence, less attractive people can minimize behavioral differences in the job search,” the researchers conclude. “But power posing is not the only solution—anything that can make you feel more powerful, like doing a confidence self-talk, visualizing yourself succeeding, or reflecting on past accomplishments before a social evaluation situation can also help.”