Do pretty students get better grades than others?

To come to this conclusion, the professor based himself on the results obtained by five cohorts of first- and second-year industrial engineering students at Lund University. He classified courses in the program into two categories: “quantitative” courses (mathematics or physics, for example) and “non-quantitative” courses (economics, for example). To determine the attractiveness of the 307 students analyzed, he asked an independent jury of 74 people of the same age as the students to rank them from 1 to 10 based on the photo used for their student card. Then he looked at whether there was a correlation between beauty and grades.

“When all courses are taken into account, there is a positive relationship between attractiveness and grades, although not statistically significant.“, explains the professor. However, when we see Non-quantitative courses only, the relationship between attractiveness and ratings becomes significant. In other words, in these courses, beauty really does play a role. According to the professor, this is because these courses involve more group work, seminars and oral presentations. In other words, in these courses, teachers have more opportunities to interact with students.

A 2016 study by the University of Denver Already interested in the links between results and beauty. Again, students were ranked from 1 to 10. During this study, it appeared that beauty had no effect on boys’ grades. Conversely, less beautiful women have lower ratings than women who are perceived as beautiful.

Is it really a matter of beauty?

In the collective imagination, beautiful people are more successful than others. Remember the painting “Blonde” by Gad Elmaleh, which tells the perfect life of a beautiful man. In fact, As the psychology site explains, studies show that beautiful people earn more than less beautiful people. But is that really the reason for their beauty? For Sophie Sewell, clinical psychologist, “They end up doing it because we think that pretty people will win at everything. We treat them very favorably, so we give them every opportunity to succeed.”

If “premium beauty” exists in some areas, it cannot explain everything. In fact, if beautiful people sometimes succeed better than others, it is because they have more self-confidence. Because beauty is valued, beautiful people are more courageous and more productive. It is more common in men.

Going by the Lund University study, during distance education, the scores of attractive female students in non-quantitative courses decreased, while the same was the case for males. “Men who are considered attractive get higher marks even though teachers can’t see their faces“, The researcher explains. “Some research in psychology shows that attractive men are more confident and hard-working, which benefits them regardless of the teaching method.”

We’ve seen it: Beauty-related stereotypes can have positive effects on people who meet the standards of the moment. But these effects can be negative. “Excessive beauty causes anxiety, intimidation, and creates negative feelings toward less attractive people, thus hindering promotion and hiring.”Remember the world. “The most beautiful can be seen as superficial and stupid.”