Here’s Why Your Attractive Colleague Gets Frequent Promotions |The Halo Effect
According to a survey conducted by London Guildhall University, attractive employees earn 11-15% higher salaries than their less attractive peers.
We all have observed adorable people gaining attention, getting more compliments, and people getting out of their way to talk to them or staring at them for a little longer.
The Halo Effect:
Good looks are also often associated with other positive personality traits such as being confident, social, intelligent, smarter and more truthful.
These personality traits are only associated with them because of their appealing physical features. This is what Edward Thorndike termed as ‘the halo effect’.
The halo effect is everywhere, at workplaces, schools, colleges, and even homes. However, it negatively affects the people who are perceived as not so good-looking by society.
How The Halo Effect Works (With Real-Life Examples):
Recently, in an interview, a Pakistani actor, Khaqan Shahnawaz addressed how being handsome and a conventionally good-looking guy helped him strengthen his acting career and succeed as a content creator. He proceeded;
“I am very lucky, I have the best gift of all, I have the genetic gift; I look this way,”
“So that makes a huge difference, you feel?” the host inquired.
“Yeah, yeah. Who will deny that being conventionally good-looking does not help you? I’m a conventionally good-looking guy. I have green eyes, fair skin, I’m tall, broad, I have a well-defined face. These things help you, globally,” said Khaqan.
For putting forward his fair judgment about the pretty privilege, he received backlash from the Pakistani audience.
However, there is nothing wrong with admitting having experienced ‘the halo effect’, in a public statement. Every person on this earth has experienced it, positively or negatively. Moreover, the widely believed statement given below is also based on physical appearance as human personality traits are adjustable:
“First impression is the last impression. “
Secondly, Cameron Herrin, a 24-year-old American guy serving a 24-year sentence in prison because he killed a young mother and her daughter in a car accident while racing with his friends.
This boy got immense attention and meaningless support because he was a ‘conventionally good-looking guy’.
If you are one of his supporters, imagine someone ugly in his place. Let alone the support, you wouldn’t have even noticed him.
Personality Can Outshine Physical Attractiveness:
No one can deny the importance of good physical appearance. But still, an individual’s personality traits hold more power. A study conducted proved how a very attractive person can lose worth if they do not exhibit the basic good personality traits such as empathy, kindness, a loving nature, wiseness, honesty, loyalty, trustworthiness and more.
As in the words of Lewandowski:
“This research provides a more positive alternative by reminding people that personality goes a long way toward determining your attractiveness; it can even change people’s impressions of how good-looking you are.”
Final Thoughts:
Beauty is as temporary as weather. You bloom like a flower, then you become the warmth of the sun, later you are the dryness of autumn and lastly, you are the cold. Your year ended and another year will come where other people like you will take pride in their beauty and eventually become cold. The cycle continues like this.
But in between the cycle, we need to understand that every rose should be given a chance to bloom not just the widely admired ‘pretty red rose’.
Peace!
