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August 14, 2024

New study finds link between facial attractiveness and lifespan

Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain
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Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

A new study published in Social Science and Medicine has uncovered a significant relationship between facial attractiveness and life expectancy, with the least attractive people living substantially shorter lives, on average, than the rest of the cohort.

In their , "Looks and longevity: Do prettier people live longer?" researchers from The University of Texas at Austin and Arizona State University analyzed data from the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study (WLS), which followed more than 8,000 high school graduates from the class of 1957 from ages 18 through 83.

"The shorter lives of less attractive women and men represent yet another penalty on those who do not look good," says study co-author Daniel Hamermesh, professor emeritus of economics at UT Austin. "This adds to a growing body of research on the effects of from infancy onward, including impacts on fertility, cognitive development, and labor-market success.

To quantify "attractiveness," high-school yearbook photographs from the WLS were rated on an 11-point scale, from not at all attractive to extremely attractive. The raters, six men and six women, were selected from the same birth cohort as the . They went through a training process, and then rated every yearbook photo in the sample.

The attractiveness ratings were then compared to the survey's mortality data, while controlling for factors like high-school achievement, , earnings as adults, and . Key findings included:

"Our research stresses the importance of equitable treatment regardless of looks," said co-author Connor Sheehan, associate professor of social and family dynamics at Arizona State University and Ph.D. alumnus of UT Austin.

While the exact mechanisms behind this relationship remain unclear, the researchers suggest that factors like , , and disparities in medical care may play a role.

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More information: Connor M. Sheehan et al, Looks and longevity: Do prettier people live longer?, Social Science & Medicine (2024).

Journal information: Social Science and Medicine , Social Science & Medicine

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