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Evolution, appearance, and occupational success.

Anthony C Little1, Craig S Roberts

  • 1School of Natural Sciences, University of Stirling, Stirling FK9 4LA, UK. anthony.little@stir.ac.uk

Evolutionary Psychology : an International Journal of Evolutionary Approaches to Psychology and Behavior
|February 6, 2013
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Physical appearance significantly impacts occupational success, influencing hiring and leadership choices. These appearance-based biases may stem from evolutionary psychology, favoring leaders whose looks align with situational demands, a phenomenon termed "task-congruent selection".

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Area of Science:

  • Evolutionary Psychology
  • Organizational Behavior
  • Social Cognition

Background:

  • Facial appearance and physical traits influence occupational outcomes, affecting hiring, salary, and election results.
  • Evidence suggests attractiveness is linked to higher hiring probability and taller men earn more.
  • Candidate appearance has demonstrably impacted election results.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review evidence linking physical appearance to occupational success.
  • To evaluate the hypothesis that appearance-based biases align with evolutionary theories of leadership and coalition formation.
  • To introduce and define the concept of "task-congruent selection".

Main Methods:

  • Literature review of studies on appearance, hiring, leadership, and election outcomes.
  • Analysis of evolutionary psychology theories, specifically coalition formation and leadership choice.
  • Discussion of "kernel of truth" attributions and coalitional psychology.

Main Results:

  • Appearance-based biases are pervasive in occupational settings.
  • Leadership selection is influenced by perceived task-congruent competencies, with different traits favored in different situations (e.g., masculine faces in wartime, feminine faces in peacetime).
  • The concept of "task-congruent selection" describes the process where appearance matching perceived task competence influences selection.

Conclusions:

  • Potentially adaptive biases related to physical appearance significantly influence workplace choices.
  • Understanding the origins and prevalence of these biases is crucial for reducing workplace discrimination.
  • Appearance-based selection can be situation-dependent, aligning with evolutionary principles of leadership suitability.