Ugly people ‘are better paid’

THE ugliest people get paid more than their better looking colleagues, a study has found.

The phenomenon – dubbed the Ugliness Premium – was identified by researchers who set out to discover if beautiful people earn more.

But Dr Satoshi Kanazawa, of the London School of Economics and Dr Mary Still, of the University of Massachusetts, found that salaries are influenced by more than just physical attractiveness.

Their research found that healthier and more intelligent people and those with more conscientious, more extroverted and less neurotic personality traits were the ones taking home the biggest salaries. Dr Still said methods used in other studies might explain why the findings in her research are contrary to current thoughts that beautiful people earn more.

She said: “They fail to document the ugliness premium enjoyed by the very unattractive workers.”

The study was published in Springer’s Journal Of Business And Psychology.