Below-average looks or outright ugliness can reduce a man's earnings by 26 per cent

Updated on: Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Good-looking male workers can earn 22 per cent more than their plainer colleagues doing the same job, a new study has claimed.

However, good looks do not result in increased salaries for women, the study found.

Researchers also found that below-average looks or outright ugliness can reduce a man's earnings by 26 per cent compared to an average-looking worker, The Sunday Times reported.

The 'good-looks' effect exists across the social spectrum and attractive men in all jobs, from male assembly line workers to highly-paid professional careers, can earn 22 per cent more than their colleagues doing an identical role.

The research was conducted by Andrew Leigh, a former economics professor at the Australian National University, and Jeff Borland of the University of Melbourne.

The largest exercise of its kind, it repeated a survey from 1984 to see if the beauty premium had changed.

Leigh said that although he believed good-looking women may also be paid more, the study did not demonstrate this.

"Beauty can be a double-edged sword for women. Some people still believe good looks and intelligence are incompatible in women so a good-looking woman can't be that productive, but there's no dumb-blonde syndrome affecting men's pay," Leigh said.

Leigh said the research showed people in the workplace were "lookist" and he hoped the findings would help employers overcome their prejudice.

Below-average looks or outright ugliness can reduce a man's earnings by 26 per cent

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