If you think applying makeup, carefully styling your hair and selecting the perfect outfit is just too much effort for a typical day at the office, think again.
That routine may not be for everyone, but a new study suggests that all of that work pays off — at work — for women.
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The study from researchers Jacyln Wong of the University of Chicago and Andrew Penner of the University of California at Irvine — titled "Gender and the returns to attractiveness" — found that looks and grooming matter when it comes to getting hired, getting promoted and getting a higher paycheck. But they matter differently for men and women.
After checking out the correlation between appearances and income of 14,000 people, they discovered that among young professionals — between 24 and 32 years old — women who put more effort into all of that grooming gained benefits from it in the workplace.
As for men, they benefited by simply looking good naturally.
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“Although appearance and grooming have become increasingly important to men, beauty work continues to be more salient for women because of cultural double standards with very strict prescriptions for women,” the study states.
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