Attractiveness

Being perceived as physically attractive in society yields benefits for beautiful people that extend into the workplace. Physical attractiveness is typically defined as the perceived beauty or ugliness of facial features. Despite the old adage that “beauty is in the eye of the beholder,” research shows that preferences for facial features deemed attractive in both men and women are consistent across cultures (e.g., large eyes, prominent cheekbones, symmetry). As the human brain processes the enormous amount of information we encounter in everyday interactions, it uses mental shortcuts such as categories and stereotypes to process that information quickly. When individuals see a person [Page 84]they categorize as attractive or beautiful, their brain associates that categorization with positive perceptions; conversely, when individuals see a person they categorize ...