Better-looking people tend to live happier lives than their less-attractive counterparts, according to economists at the University of Texas. There’s a corresponding opposite effect; being unattractive decreases one’s likelihood of being happy.
While the impact of beauty on happiness is not large (it’s smaller than that of income, for example), it is significant. People whose looks are rated (by others) as being in the top third of attractiveness are 10% happier than those whose looks are rated as being in the bottom sixth.
Direct Vs. Indirect Impact
The authors estimate that at least half of beauty’s effect on happiness is indirect — good-looking people tend to earn higher incomes and marry higher-earning spouses than less-attractive people. Other studies have shown that higher incomes lead to higher levels of happiness and satisfaction with life.
While beauty affects women’s and men’s happiness equally, its benefits for women are more likely to be both direct and indirect, whereas the benefits to men are largely indirect. [Human Behavior]
Source: “Beauty Is the Promise of Happiness?” published by the Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), March 2011, Daniel Hamermesh, Ph.D., et al, Department of Economics, University of Texas, Austin, TX 78712; 512-475-8526; hamermes@eco.utexas.edu; www.utexas.edu
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