Why beauty isn’t a blessing for scientists

THE “Brian Cox effect” has been credited with demystifying the subject of particle physics and attracting droves of students to the sciences.

But for those perceived as having good looks, such as Prof Cox or Prof Alice Roberts, the anthropologist, this could come at a cost. A study suggests they risk being perceived as less competent than their more ordinary-looking peers. While researchers who combine brains and beauty were found to be more interesting, the public believes they are less academically able, and so may distrust their opinions or findings.

Will Skylark, the lead researcher from Cambridge University’s Department of Psychology, said: “We know from studies showing that political success can be predicted from facial appearance, that people can be influenced by how someone looks.

“It seems that people use facial appearance as a source of information when selecting and evaluating science news.”

Volunteers shown images of 300 British and American scientists were more interested in the work of those seen as attractive and who appeared “competent and moral”. But the better looking and more sociable they were perceived to be, the less they were expected to be conducting high quality research. The study was published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.