Reich und schön? Eine Untersuchung zur ungleichen Verteilung physischer Attraktivität

Abstract

Using representative German survey data, this paper investigates if physical attractiveness is socially stratified. Physical attractiveness can become stratified if selection mechanisms cause more attractive people to reach higher socio-economic positions (Jackson et al., Social Psychology Quterly 58:108–122, 1995; Langlois et al., Psychological Bulletin 126:390–423, 2000; Rosar et al., Analyse & Kritik 36:177–207, 2014) or if unequally distributed resources are used within the frame of the social production function (Esser, Soziologie Spezielle Grundlagen. Band 1: Situationslogik und Handeln, Campus, Frankfurt a. M., 1999; Lindenberg, Verklarende Sociologie: opstellen voor Reinhard Wippler, Thela Thesis, Amsterdam, 1996) “to produce“ physical attractiveness. Drawing on the concept of erotic capital (Hakim, European Sociological Review 26:499–518, 2010) physical attractiveness is considered to being not an ascribed but an achievable characteristic. The hypothesized relation between a person’s socio-economic position and his or her physical attractiveness is tested with ALLBUS data using regression models with interviewer fixed effects. The results show that a person’s socio-economic position covaries systematically with his or her physical attractiveness along the classic dimensions of social inequality: Respondents with higher educational degrees, with higher class positions, and with higher household incomes are considered more attractive. This relationship holds for both men and women. The association between financial resources and physical attractiveness furthermore proliferates over the life course.