Women Who Wear Makeup at Work Have a Distinct Advantage

May 23, 2016

A new study reveals that women who wear makeup and spend more time and money on grooming tend to get paid more than their less prepped counterparts.

The study, conducted by Jaclyn Wong of the University of Chicago and Andrew Penner of the University of California at Irvine, looked into the impact of attractiveness on income and was published in the June 2016 issue of Journal of Social Stratification and Mobility. The researchers used data from a national study that asked more than 14,000 people a variety of questions relating to their income, job, education, personality, and other attributes, according to The Washington Post.

They found that grooming rather than natural beauty mostly accounted for the salary differences between women. Grooming was found to account for only about half of what makes men attractive, thus limiting its impact on their attractiveness-income relationship.

The study found that people who were considered to be attractive were paid 20 percent more than less attractive employees.

“The big takeaway here is that people can capture most of the attractiveness premium,” said Penner. “It’s not just what you’re born with.”

Previous research has shown how women’s grooming can affect perceptions of them. One such study by Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston University, and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute found that women who wear makeup were perceived as more likable, competent and trustworthy.

“I think that we more readily judge women, and so this presentation becomes so important to them,” Wong said.

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