Handsome is as handsome does? Not really! Study suggests prettier men earn more than their peers

Being good-looking definitely has its perks, dating is easier, life in general is easier, but turns out it is also good for your career.

Research has now shown that being attractive means you earn more money. It claims that good-looking men can earn up to 20-25 per cent more than their peers.

Why pretty privilege exists

A leading expert who has spent the past 30 years studying the issue says that one reason that attractive men earn more, "probably goes back to the fact that hundreds of years ago, if your face looked good, you were (assumed to be) healthy."

Daniel Hamermesh, a labour economist and professor at the Royal Holloway University of London and the University of Texas at Austin, says that while 'beauty is in the eye of the beholder', there has to be "some agreement on what is beautiful, right?"

"If we all beheld things differently, we wouldn't be having this discussion. But in fact, we do behold things very similarly," he claims.

"You walk down the street, I walk down the street, and we see somebody. We won't be perfectly agreed about how the person looks, but we'd be pretty close," says Hamermesh.

How good looks help you earn more

As per the economist, while employers may not favour attractiveness over experience, it can help people score an interview.

"There are a couple of studies showing the better-looking people are more likely to get an interview in the first place."

"We also know that among those employed, they do better. So it (being good-looking) helps in all of those stages, from hiring to the pay process," he adds.

"Does it help somebody at the interview stage? Yes. Does it help somebody going from an interview to getting an offer? Yes."

Across different professions, good looks may actually give you a real edge. Referring to a study on the National Football League, he says: "The better-looking quarterbacks, who basically direct the team, are paid more, presumably because the players pay more attention to them."

"Even with economists and economics professors, the better-looking ones make more money."

He says that good-looking people also get better deals when it comes to house mortgages, loans, etc.

All good?

However, it is actually not all good. Previous studies have shown that the "very best-looking" people, especially women, are often viewed as "intellectual lightweights" or "bimbos", and they might actually end up doing not so well in comparison to other good-looking women.

(With inputs from agencies)

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