According to a recent study conducted by the Stanford Graduate School of Business, it is. The study looked into the way our perceived attractiveness affects our mood, and how we view others. More specifically, it looked into how our attitudes affect the way we group people into hierarchies and how we think of inequality.
Margaret Neale, a professor in the Graduate School of Business, along with Peter Belmi who is a graduate student, decided to explore the relationship between the two after looking at data from the U.S. Census. According to the latest data, during the recession, consumer spending on personal grooming and beauty treatments stayed high despite a growing unemployment rate and financial crisis. Interestingly, what they found was that most people’s views on hierarchy and inequality are pretty malleable and can be swayed significantly by feeling more attractive – even on a day to day basis.
People tend to endorse placing others into hierarchical social groups at times when they feel attractive. When they feel unattractive, they’re more sensitive to inequality and tend to not group people into hierarchical social classes.
So what does this mean? As much as we like to think that our attitudes towards others are set, they are actually greatly affected by our personal appearance – or the way we feel about our personal appearance.
So, the next time you have an important meeting at work or you want to impress someone, take a little extra time to fix your hair and feel good about yourself – it’ll show in your actions.
