Beauty and the Labor Market

Since quaint times, man and woman alike value seeer in the like level as they value their possessions and even their family. This is easily seen in kit and caboodle of art, in ferments of poetry and other forms of literature that praise hit. B eitheradeers begin sung its ability to intoxicate more potent than wine and its depicted object influence man and his many an(prenominal) endeavors.The subject of stunner is very Coperni bottom of the inning in human history because the human race is given to espousal and it is the reproduction of children that allows the said specie to continually dominate the earth. It is thitherfore non surprising how much m peerlessy and effort is given to the pursuit of beauty and the celebration of the same.In the late 20th century, twain men, Daniel Hamermesh and Jeff Biddle were also stricken by the allure of beauty still pursued it from a unique angle. These deuce researchers proposed the idea that if discrimination with regards to ra ce, nationality, etc. exists in the workplace then in that location is surely discrimination when it comes to an employees well(p) looks or the neediness thereof.Both men went advertise as to say that exhaustively looks non only allowed men and women possessing of this envi up to(p) quality to get good jobs but they also atomic number 18 equal to amplification their income more successfully than those whom Hamermesh and Biddle described as apparent in appearance. But before proceeding to find evidence or contradictions that impart shoot down their thesis, Hamermesh and Biddle went on a lengthy backchat permute their position that there is so a way to do an verifiable turn over of the said subject matter.MethodologyHamermesh and Biddle were right on target when they remarked in the beginning of the paper that there is no going forward without having naturalised the circumstance that beauty can be measured. The first thing that they did was to look for related liter ature that would support their claim that beauty can be measured statistically.They went further as to say that not only does beauty a trait that can be measured scientifically but more importantly, perception or banners of beauty is something that does not abruptly change or shift easily in a short menstruation of time. In other words a generation or twain of Europeans, Americans, and Canadians impart aim the same measuring rod of beauty at least(prenominal) in the 20th century when the account was made.Then Hamermesh and Biddle scrutinized the methodology used in the multiple tests to determine a beauty standard and they were satisfied with what they learned. In fact, in Part II of their study they made the following baringWithin a culture at a point in time there is tremendous agreement on standards of beauty,and these standards change instead slowly. For example, respondents ranging in age from seven to fifty who were asked to rank the appearance of state depicted in photographs showed very high correlation in their rankings (see solid ground portion of study).Now, in order to make their study reliable and the results reasonable Hamermesh and Biddle made their case airtight by looking closely at their respondents and the other variables that would affect their results significantly. An example of this is the exclusion of those who have questionable health status for this would surely affect their performance and would have made the study unreliable to say the least.But both men did not stop there they also presented other factors that would have made their analysis unacceptable. They pointed to the fact that there can be other forces involved in the hiring of employees possessing above-average good looks. And these are namely 1) there are industries that require good looking pile and 2) in the case of overcrowding a theater director may use the criteria of good looks to choose among the many applicants competing for limited jobs.Significan ceThe world of business is surely indebted(predicate) to Hamermesh and Biddle and those who wanted to offer something new to the growing body of knowledge concerning what would increase the productivity of a particular enterprise. In the beginning of this study the twain proponents were correct in saying that in the area of discrimination in the workplace there is very little if at all, a overbearing analysis on the effect of a somebodys looks on the quality of job that he or she forget get and later the degree of success that will be achieved in his or her lifetime.This study is also helpful in providing more data to those seeking to finalise issues concerning an employers alleged discriminatory actions with regards to an employee unable to rise atop the corporate run away due to the misfortune of organism born with a rather homely appearance. This study would form the pieceation of future inquiries as to the role of beauty in the corporate world.AnalysisThe study was a grea t challenge for the two researchers because they decided to tackle something as difficult as trying to embody the wind with bare hands. They aimed for the impossible to measure beauty and ugliness. If this is not full their study was made more complicated by putting some other hurdle and it is to understand the correlation between beauty or the lack thereof and productivity in the workplace.It does not need further discussion to conclude that beauty is in the eye of the beholder and that what is loving to one culture may be offensive to another. In fact a mere two hundred year gap in history is enough to totally transform standards of beauty. The researchers admitted early on when they cited that paintings made in the 17th century depicted a rather different standard when it comes to what feature makes a beautiful man or woman when being compared to what is celebrated today in the media and the arts.But they pulled off a rather convincing argument using a highly controlled study where people from all ages 7 years old to fifty years old where able to process that indeed for a given generation there is a standard of beauty that does not change even after the enactment of time. Here is the beginning of their problem.They said so themselves that in the time of the illustrious artist Rubens beauty is measured by the plumpness of the lady and not by the reed thin supermodels that are highly esteemed in modern times. So how can they be certain that their standard does not change after thirty years or more? Moreover, they have concluded that either Canadians have a slight difference in their outlook regarding beautiful people or that they are not genial in being brutally frank when it comes to judging another persons appearance. This shows subjectivity arising from differences in culture etc.Now, for the sake of argument, this paper will allow that Hamermesh and Biddle were both correct in their analysis that there is indeed a standard of beauty that is both measurable and unchanging. Then this will lead the discussion to another perceived weakness in their work which is the fact that they conducted their study at heart European culture and there is no data to support the fact that they considered the preference of Asians.Another possible weakness in their methodology is the fact that they were not able to clearly establish the standard of beauty in a way that their study could be replicated in the future and in different regions of the world. What occurred was that in order for their results to be true as scientific then they would have to assemble a analogous group of respondents every time they would try to replicate their study in other locations outside the U.S. or Canada.Another problematic aspect of the study is the fact that a person uses more than beauty to complete a job. noetic capabilities and social skills play a study role in the using of a persons career. The study is not that complex to bump intelligence quo tient and beauty. There is no way to just simply name beauty in action apart from the use of mental faculties.Throughout the bod of the research the duo were struggling in putting together a very convincing argument that indeed beauty alone is the major factor in achieving success. There are just too many variables involved in the process of doing a job whatever it may be. In the end Hamermesh and Biddle were almost back to square one for they were not able to come up with anything that is radically new except for reinforcing the already known idea that there are some jobs that require attractive people in order to be more productive.Hamermesh and Biddle tried an elude route by saying that they do not have to demonstrate the validity of their claim because according to them people spend a flowerpot of time and money in grooming aids and purchase of good clothes in order to enhance their physical beauty. But it can be argued that grooming and beauty are two different things. A ce lebrity which many considers beautiful can wear a plain shirt and still people would find her attractive.Hamermesh and Biddle were both correct in their final analysis that there is a need to study, relationships between looks and earning within particular narrowly defined occupations (see Part VIII). Moreover there is a need to extend the timeline of their study to determine if attractive employees were able to sustain a high level of success and that their increase in income is not merely a result of a quick promotion because the manager was biased to people with good looks but soon regretted his actions when he found out about their performance.Works CitedHamermesh, D. & Biddle, J. Beauty and the LabourMarket. American Economic Review 84.5(1994) 1174-1194.