Is the beauty premium accessible to all? An experimental analysis

Publication date: Available online 21 February 2020Source: Journal of Economic PsychologyAuthor(s): Angela Cristiane Santos Póvoa, Wesley Pech, Juan José Camou Viacava, Marcos Tadeu SchwartzAbstractWe conducted a trust game experiment to investigate whether women are trusted more when they wear makeup than when they do not. Facial attractiveness, which was manipulated through the application of makeup by a professional makeup artist, was measured before and after makeovers. Trustors were shown a photograph of their female counterparts before they made decisions about money transfers to trustees. The results showed that wearing makeup increased perceived attractiveness, which in turn led trustors to make larger transfers to female trustees during the trust game. Additionally, we discovered a pure makeup premium that was mediated by gender. Specifically, female trustees with makeup received larger transfers than female trustees without makeup when the trustors were men, even after controlling for female trustees’ levels of attractiveness.

Source: Journal of Economic Psychology - February 22, 2020 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research