You might already know that attractive people are more likely than their plain rivals to be hired or to win elections. In psychology, this is referred to as a beauty premium and the flip side as a plainness penalty (cosmetic surgeons refer to the proven value of beauty as a cash cow).
Do these beauty premiums and plainness penalties extend to high school? Are the hotties and cool guys given better grades because of their beauty? While the cynic in you might be predisposed to say yes, the answer is actually no: Beauty doesn’t help grades.
Actually, a better answer is it’s complex.
Beauty does affect grades. Studied alone, prettier people receive higher grades. But when you take out personal grooming and personality, beauty predicts lower grades.
Huh? English please! OK:
People seen as beautiful are likely to possess both good grooming and strong personalities—but it’s these and not beauty itself that result in higher high school grades. In fact, in a population of students who have it all—good grooming and strong personalities—the students who are also especially beautiful will earn (or be given) lower grades. So the true predictors of high grades are grooming and personality. And listen up, you gross boys and mean girls: For boys, grooming is more important, and for girls, it’s personality.
Mental power cannot be got from ill-fed brains.
—Herbert Spencer
If high-schoolers get nice and get clean, they can combat the beauty premium.