Physical attractiveness and intellectual competence: A meta-analytic review
Jackson, Hunter and Hodge's meta-analysis examined how physical attractiveness relates to perceived and actual intellectual competence. Attractive people were rated as more competent than less attractive people, and the rating effect was larger when no explicit information about competence was available. Attractiveness was linked to actual competence in children but not in adults, which the authors describe as partial support for status generalization and expectancy theories.
Jackson, Hunter and Hodge's meta-analysis examined how physical attractiveness relates to perceived and actual intellectual competence. Attractive people were rated as more competent than less attractive people, and the rating effect was larger when no explicit information about competence was available. Attractiveness was linked to actual competence in children but not in adults, which the authors describe as partial support for status generalization and expectancy theories.
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Jackson, L. A., Hunter, J. E., & Hodge, C. N. (1995). Physical attractiveness and intellectual competence: A meta-analytic review. Social Psychology Quarterly, 58(2), 108-122. doi:10.2307/2787149 https://doi.org/10.2307/2787149