Studies have repeatedly shown that the more attractive a person is, the more satisfied he or she is with life. However, recent analysis has suggested that this association may appear in different ways in men and women.
According to several existing psychological studies, people with an attractive appearance tend to feel more satisfied with their lives than people who do not have an attractive appearance. However, the meaning of ‘attractiveness’ referred to in research may vary depending on the evaluation method.
For example, one way is to ask research participants how attractive they feel their appearance is. In this case, people who perceive themselves as more attractive are likely to have higher life satisfaction. Conversely, there is also a method where an external evaluator looks at the photo and evaluates the attractiveness. This is meaningful in that it reflects how attractiveness is evaluated socially, rather than an individual’s self-perception.
However, it was not clear how various individual characteristics affected this relationship. The study assessed how gender, among other factors, influences the relationship between attractiveness and life satisfaction.
Czech researchers analyze the relationship between attractiveness, happiness, and gender
Researchers at the Czech Academy of Sciences analyzed data from 2,200 adults aged 16 to 60 using data from the International Survey of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) conducted in the Czech Republic.
Participants self-assessed their attractiveness by asking three questions. At the same time, external evaluators evaluated objective attractiveness based on photos submitted by participants. The researchers also analyzed various factors that can affect life satisfaction, such as the participants’ gender, age, self-esteem, marital status, occupation, and personality characteristics.
Objectively attractive people are happier… evident in men
As a result of the analysis, it was found that people who were evaluated as objectively more attractive tended to have higher life satisfaction. This result is consistent with several existing studies. However, there were differences depending on gender.
For men, attractiveness judged by external evaluators was found to have a clear direct effect on life satisfaction. In other words, the more attractive men appeared to others, the more satisfied they were with their lives. Emotional stability and self-esteem also influenced life satisfaction, but attractiveness had the greatest direct effect.
For women, on the other hand, the results were more complicated. The direct effects of both objective and subjective attractiveness on life satisfaction were not statistically significant. In other words, it was found that simply evaluating one’s appearance as attractive did not directly increase women’s life satisfaction. However, objective attractiveness influenced self-esteem and emotional stability, and these factors were analyzed to act as an indirect path to increase life satisfaction.
Additionally, the overall effect of appearance on life satisfaction was found to be greater for men than for women.
The researchers explained that these results show that the relationship between appearance and happiness is not simple. People who are evaluated as attractive tend to be happier, but the way this affects them can vary greatly depending on gender.
In particular, for women, self-esteem and emotional stability were found to be more important factors in determining life satisfaction than appearance itself. Accordingly, the researchers explained that for long-term happiness, it may be more important to increase self-esteem and emotional resilience rather than focusing only on appearance.
This study was published under the title ‘How Beauty Impacts Life Satisfaction: Objective, Subjective, and Mediating Effects‘ in the Handbook of Beauty and Inequality published by Springer, an international academic publisher.