No evidence of “beauty is beastly effect” found in German federal elections

A study in Germany looked for evidence of the “beauty is beastly effect”—i.e., that physically attractive female candidates in German federal elections might be disadvantaged because of their beauty. They found no evidence of such effects. The paper was published in Politics and the Life Sciences.

A person’s physical attractiveness is very important in human society. Studies show that more attractive infants receive more attention from their caregivers and that attractive students receive better grades in school. Attractive individuals find jobs faster, earn more, and win promotions earlier than their less attractive peers.

Moreover, a study on the effects of switching to online classes during the COVID-19 pandemic found that the grades of physically attractive female students became lower during this period, further confirming the effects of beauty. These advantages conferred upon an individual by their physical attractiveness are called the “beauty premium.”

However, there are indications that there may be specific situations where physical attractiveness might confer a disadvantage, particularly regarding the attractiveness of women. One such situation is when attractive women apply for roles typically associated with masculinity. In these cases, attractive women might face a disadvantage as people may perceive that they lack the traits deemed necessary for performing the role in question. This effect is known as the “beauty is beastly effect.”

Study author Roman Althans and his colleagues note that female political candidates face disadvantages in elections for political positions in Germany. They reasoned that one of the explanations for these disadvantages might be that voters see political roles as masculine, producing the “beauty is beastly effect.” However, if that were the case, attractive women would be at a stronger disadvantage compared to less attractive women.

Overall, the study authors hypothesized that physically attractive candidates would receive a higher share of votes, that female candidates would receive a lower share of votes than male candidates, and that physical attractiveness would have a positive effect on the share of votes male candidates receive, but a negative effect on the share of votes female candidates receive.

To test these hypotheses, the authors used data regarding the share of votes received by candidates of politically relevant parties in the German Bundestag (Parliament) elections from 2005 to 2021. Parties included were the AfD (from 2017 on), CDU, CSU, FDP, the Greens (Bündnis 90/Die Grünen), The Left (Die Linke), and the SPD.

They took into account the share of direct (first) votes each candidate received, the number of opposing candidates, the age and gender of each candidate, whether the candidate was already a sitting member of the Bundestag at the time of elections, and whether the candidate was especially prominent. They also utilized photographs of the candidates. The study authors used attractiveness ratings of these candidates that were already collected in previous studies.

Results showed that, in line with expectations, men tended to receive more votes than women. Physically attractive candidates also tended to receive more votes than their less attractive peers. However, this was the case for both men and women. Contrary to the study authors’ expectations, physical attractiveness was not associated with a lower share of votes for women. Rather, the association was positive—more beautiful female candidates tended to receive more votes.

The authors wrote, “In conclusion, a ‘beauty is beastly effect’ cannot be found in German elections. The question remains as to whether considering a different voting system or a different period with different conditions, such as even more pronounced male dominance, would have yielded different results. As the ‘beauty is beastly’ effect (in politics) concerns the interplay of physical attractiveness, voting behavior based on candidate appearances, and gender stereotypes, it would be fruitful to replicate these findings for different electoral systems and political cultures.”

The study contributes to the scientific understanding of the factors affecting voting decisions. However, it should be noted that the study focused on German federal elections only. Results in other cultural contexts may differ.

The paper, “Is there a beauty is beastly effect in electoral success? An empirical analysis of the German federal elections 2005 to 2021,” was authored by Roman Althans, Ulrich Rosar, Luisa Junghänel, and Lena Masch.