Albert Menes, an American professor at the University of Pennsylvania, presents in his study, “One indisputable truth of the human condition is that appearance matters.”
Does beauty make you successful? In any case, this is what many scientific studies on the subject will prove. In 2011, Daniel Hammermash, an American economist at the University of Texas, stated in his work “Beauty Pays. Why Beautiful People Succeed” that the most attractive employees earn an average of $230,000 more than their less naturally attractive counterparts over the course of their careers.
A trend was confirmed two years later by two researchers from the University of Melbourne, Andrew Leigh and Jeff Borland. The Sunday Morning Herald reported that, in their study, they revealed that “men with above-average looks earned $81,750 on average, compared to men with below-average looks.”
In a professional context, there is one physical characteristic that often contributes to low self-esteem: baldness. Absence of this phenomenon also indicates progressive hair loss. It affects one in three men by age 30, one in two by age 50, and more than three in four by age 70. Many of them try to hide it or reverse the natural process. However, it can bring certain benefits. This is the conclusion of Albert Menes, a professor of management at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
In his article published in the journal Social Psychological and Personality Science, he describes three experiments he conducted to arrive at this observation. In one of them, 344 participants had to evaluate photographs of four men. The latter were presented in two aspects: one photo showed them with hair, while a second had their hair removed by computer. Results: Digitally shaved men were perceived by respondents to be more impressive than men with hair. They were also seen as bigger, stronger and with more leadership. In his third test, the researcher asked 552 participants to rate a man according to several criteria. The only thing that can change is whether he is bald, with thin or thick hair. When presented with thinning hair, he was perceived as less impressive, attractive, and less of a leader than a bald man.
The author puts forward several hypotheses to explain these results. One in particular is that having a shaved head is associated with stereotypes: men with shaved heads are seen in traditionally masculine occupations, and Hollywood has had many bald action movie stars in the past, such as Bruce Willis, The Rock today. Management professor Albert Maness concluded, “Instead of spending billions each year to reverse or cure their hair loss, the counter-recommendation of this research is for men with baldness to shave their heads. As a result, these men may improve their well-being.” Finishing what Mother Nature started.”
