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Topics: Reddit, Social Media, Psychology
Ellie Kemp
Topics: Reddit, Social Media, Psychology
We know that pretty privilege is a thing - but there's scientific proof that attractive people are treated better than others.
From generally more pleasant social interactions to free drinks and even getting out of speeding tickets, being considered good looking has its perks.
Many believe that, because of these advantages, attractive people have an easier ride in life. And in some cases, that certainly appears to be true.
According to people on Reddit, that is, where a discussion was recently ignited after one curious person questioned the r/AskReddit community: "Hotties of Reddit, what are some perks that you've gotten for being attractive?"
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The thread received thousands of responses, reeling off the lived experiences of those considered head-turningly gorgeous - and their spouses.
"My wife negotiated our house price down 10 percent when we were buying it, and the sellers gave in, no questions asked," one social media user claims.
"In a time where everyone was bidding at least 5 percent over asking price. Upgrades, refunds, freebies, when it's that time I keep my mouth shut and let the wife and daughter handle it."
Another person shared: "I once asked a guy for directions and ended up with a free smoothie, free sandwich and him offering to walk me there 'just to be safe.'" And a third weighed in: "People assume I'm nice before I even say a word - it's wild."
The reason behind all this is what's known as the Halo Effect.
California-based clinical and forensic neuropsychologist Judy Ho spelled it out to Vice: “The Halo Effect means that if there’s one good trait in a person, you then associate a bunch of other good traits with that first good trait.
"And usually the first good trait we’re talking about is physical beauty.”
The term was first created by psychologist Edward Thorndike in a 1920 paper named The Constant Error in Psychological Ratings, as Very Well Mind reports.
Thorndike had asked military officers to rate their soldiers on traits like leadership, looks and intelligence.
He discovered that if an officer gave someone a high score in one area - say, good looks - they also tended to give them high scores in other areas - like intelligence or loyalty - and the reverse for low scores.
So, judgments almost bled into one another, giving unusually strong correlations across different traits.
But - just as our fellow Redditors pointed out - often, the opposite can be true. While attractive people tend to be favored more by members of the opposite sex, a totally different pattern often emerges when it comes to the same sex.
One Reddit user shared: "I treat everyone fairly and am generally very kind, but people always hate me before they interact with me unfortunately."
A second echoed: "Same here! I’ve got either 'I thought you were going to be a douche' or 'I thought you were going to be an asshole' before I ever said anything."
And the science has an explanation for this, too; highly attractive individuals are perceived as rivals for mates and status.
Psychology Today reports how a 2010 study by Agthe, Spörrle, and Maner showed that in organizational‐type tasks, same‐sex evaluators had a negative bias toward attractive people, rating them less favorably than their less-attractive peers because they viewed them as threatening in terms of status and resources.
Earlier work by Buunk et al. (2007) and Gutierrez et al. (1999) similarly found that attractive same‐sex individuals evoke stronger feelings of rivalry and exclusion.
So, whether attractive people have it 'easier' overall is still up for debate, I suppose.