Revisiting the beauty is beastly effect: examining when and why sex and attractiveness impact hiring judgments
We contribute to the body of literature on the what is beautiful is good heuristic (Dion, Berscheid, Walster, 1972, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 24, 285 290) the beauty is beastly effect (Heilman Saruwatari, 1979, Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, 23, 360 372) and lack of fit theory (Heilman, 1983, Research in Organizational Behavior, 5, 269 298) by reconciling previous discrepancies in the literature and by examining the circumstances in which attractiveness may and may not be detrimental for female job applicants. First, we perform a review of studies which have previously tested the beauty is beastly effect, and we provide and test explanations for previous discrepancies in the literature. Next, we conduct two new studies on the beauty is beastly effect using corporate types of jobs, and empirically test Heilman's lack of fit theory (1983) as an explanation for the effect. We find support for the effect in a general population sample, and partial support for the effect in a sample of human resource professionals. We also provide support for a mediated moderation model showing that applicant sex is related to job suitability for a male typed job through the indirect effect of perceived agency, which is moderated by applicant attractiveness.