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Summary Problem 6 - I feel pretty, oh so pretty
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Laura Heijnen – Organisational Psychology: Performance at WorkProblem 6. I feel pretty, oh so pretty
Do physical attributes influence career, and why?
Are there evolutionary processes at work in the employment market?
Does discrimination play a role in these differences?
ü Judge, Hurst, & Simon (2009) – Does it pay to be smart, attractive, or confident (of all three)?
Relationships among general mental ability, physical attractiveness, core self-evaluations, and income
Introduction
- Inside = personality + intelligence do influence career success, but also attractiveness.
- Mediators: employer + customer discrimination, occupational sorting + differential
outcomes in marriage market.
- Attractiveness related to personal characteristics, developed through process of
expectancy confirmation: stereotypes regarding attractiveness elicit expectations à
consistently differential judgment + treatment à outcomes are internalised + cause
development of differential behaviour, traits + self-views.
- Hypothesis: educational attainment + core self-evaluations (= general self-concept)
are influenced by attractiveness + should mediate effects of attractiveness on income.
Longitudinal data. Including intelligence as possible mediator à possibly explaining
more variance in income + shedding light on relative importance.
- Aim: to consider how self-concept affects financial strain, which influences
productivity + is implicated in overall well-being. Income alone doesn’t explain
financial worries: also consider financial knowledge, attitudes, goals + behaviours.
- Suggest that unlike attractiveness + intelligence, core self-evaluations influence
financial strain not only indirectly via influence on income but also directly.
Theory + hypotheses
- Direct effects of attractiveness on income, education + core self-evaluations:
o 68% of attractive adults above mean on occupational success, while only 32%
unattractive adults à Hypothesis 1a: physical attractiveness is positively
associated with income.
o Previous research found positive link between attractiveness + educational
attainment: attractive people à
§ From early age, receive more encouragement in academic endeavours
than unattractive people.
§ Intellectual + academic competence judged more positively.
§ Receive more attention + are subjects to positive interactions (e.g.,
instructional assistance, positive reactions) with others, and fewer
negative ones (e.g., aggression, punishment, negative feedback).
§ Better treatment in academic settings à advantages: social support à
higher academic achievement + motivation, which are positively
associated with educational attainment.
à Attractive children benefit from having more resources supportive of
academic achievement à more likely to finish high school + go to college à
Hypothesis 1b: physical attractiveness is positively associated with educational
attainment.
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, Laura Heijnen – Organisational Psychology: Performance at Work
o Core evaluations: self-esteem, generalised self-efficacy, emotional stability
(neuroticism) + locus of control. Not yet studied self-concept as possible
mediator of effects of attractiveness.
o Attractiveness should influence global self-concept in 3 ways:
§ Global-self-worth strongly influenced by warmth + approval of others.
Feedback often given to attractive people early.
§ Global self-concept is based on perceived competence in areas of
personal important, which likely include appearance (because
pervasive in multiple domains).
§ Stigma of being unattractive, often accompanied by negative judgment
+ treatment, may lead to perception of high level of external constraint
(= aspect of locus of control).
o Correlations between appearance + global self-worth high (.70 - .80). Other
studies found moderate but still positive relationships between attractiveness
+ observed and self-reported self-confidence/esteem in children, competence
+ mental health (+/- .15). Attractiveness found to be positively related to
confidence in abilities, emotional stability (in men) + control beliefs à
Hypothesis 1c: physical attractiveness is positively associated with core self-
evaluations.
- Direct effects of general mental ability on income, education + core self-evaluations:
o Positive influence on cognitive ability (.27)/attractiveness on income +
evidence that intelligence affects educational attainment: intelligence
positively influences learning + success at skills acquisition à positive spiral in
which relatively more intelligent students receive psychosocial + instrumental
support as result of successes.
§ Hypothesis 2a: general mental ability is positively associated with
income.
§ Hypothesis 2b: general mental ability is positively associated with
educational attainment.
o Main source of core self-evaluations is genetic, but can also be influenced by
intelligence/general mental ability. Intelligence creates ‘functional
competence’/achievement of commonly valued social end, but these aren’t
limited to academic achievements but can vary à Hypothesis 2c: general
mental ability is positively associated with core self-evaluations.
- Direct effects of education + core self-evaluations on income:
o Educational attainment positive influence on income by providing stronger
credentials to signal one’s value in market + by strengthening skills +
knowledge needed to obtain rewards associated with effective performance
à Hypothesis 3: educational attainment is positively associated with income.
o Only one study on core self-evaluations + income directly, but also suggestions
that self-esteem + internal locus of control had positive, nonzero associations
with income à Hypothesis 4: core self-evaluations are positively associated
with income.
- Mediating roles of educational attainment + core self-evaluations:
o Expected partial mediation by education + core self-evaluations for both
attractiveness + intelligence. Previous studies found that at least some of
income differences between attractive/unattractive due to employer +
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, Laura Heijnen – Organisational Psychology: Performance at Work
customer discrimination, marital success + occupational sorting. BUT: might
also be because more educated + view self more positively.
§ Hypothesis 5a: educational attainment partially mediates relationship
between physical attractiveness + income.
§ Hypothesis 5b: core self-evaluations partially mediate relationship
between physical attractiveness + income.
o Intelligence influences other factors that play role in earning (like
attractiveness), e.g., job performance, employment stability + job knowledge
acquisition. Recent research: evidence that educational attainment mediates
relationship between intelligence + income, and belief that higher core self-
evaluations of intelligent people also contribute to income advantage.
§ Hypothesis 6a: educational attainment partially mediates relationship
between general mental ability + income.
§ Hypothesis 6b: core self-evaluations partially mediate relationship
between general mental ability + income.
- Income, core self-evaluations + financial strain:
o More income = less vulnerable to economic shocks + more able to cover costs
of living = negatively predicting financial strain. BUT: experience of financial
status as stressful might be perception/subjective appraisal based on future
expectations + peer comparisons à Hypothesis 7a: income is negatively
associated with financial strain.
o Transactional theory of stress: appraisals of circumstances as
threatening/challenging are influenced by individual differences like self-
esteem, self-efficacy + sense of control à core self-evaluations influence
attitudes by colouring interpretations of external circumstances + events.
General self-efficacy found to be associated with appraisal o situations as
challenges rather than threats. High in neuroticism = more negative events,
reacting more strongly to events + choosing less effective coping mechanisms
à Hypothesis 7b: core self-evaluations are negatively associated with financial
strain.
o Individuals with positive core self-evaluations should be less likely to
experience financial strains because they earn more, appraise financial
situation more sanguinely + engage in financial behaviours that minimise types
of problems that can lead to stress à Hypothesis 7c: income partially
mediates relationship between core self-evaluations + financial strain.
Method
- Participants + procedure: national survey, English adults between age 25-75 years.
Also special Boston study (429 participants), 3 interviews (6 month-interval) + tests
and photograph taking.
- Measures:
o Financial strains: 4-item scale during time 3 interview.
o Income: measured at time 2.
o Core self-evaluations: 15-item scale, based CSES + Big 5.
o Educational attainment: 12-point scale at time 1, which kind of education.
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