Good looks lead to better pay?
It is a blow for the Ugly Bettys and Plain Janes - research shows that good looks lead to better pay.
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A study of 4,000 young men and women found that beauty boosted pay cheques more than intelligence.
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Those judged to be the easiest on the eye earned up to 10 per cent more than their less attractive friends and colleagues.
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Applied to the average salary of ?25,000, the 'plainness penalty' would make a difference of ?2,500 a year - or around ?50 a week.
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It is unclear what is behind the phenomenon but it may be that beauty breeds confidence. The self-assured may appear to be doing better than they are and will have fewer qualms about badgering for a pay rise.
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Researcher Jason Fletcher, of Yale University in the U.S., rated the attractiveness of the young men and women. Just over half were judged average, while 7 per cent were felt to be very attractive and 8 per cent were judged unattractive or very unattractive.
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The volunteers also sat an IQ test and disclosed their salary. It became clear that pay scales were far from fair.
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For instance, a 14-point increase on the IQ score was associated with a 3 to 6 per cent increase in wage. But being of above-average looks boosted pay by 5 to 10 per cent.
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For a plain person to be paid the same as a very attractive one, they would have to be 40 per cent brighter, the journal Economics Letters reports.
Dr Fletcher said: "The results do show that people's looks have an impact on their wages and it can be very substantial."
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lead to? ：导致
boost ：vt. 推进，提高，增加? n. 推进，增加
self-assured ：?adj. 有自信的
attractiveness? ：n. 魅力，吸引力
Just over? ：vi. 稍稍超过(刚结束的)
disclose ：vt. 揭露
be far from ：毫不，一点也不，远非，几乎相反
For instance ：例如
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长得漂亮，薪水更高？
一项调查显示，好的长相能带来较高的薪水。这对于长相不佳或容貌平平的女孩们来说的确是个打击。
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一项对四千名年轻男女开展的调查发现，美貌比智慧更能带来薪水的增长。
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与长相一般的朋友和同事相比，那些被认为长得好看的人能多挣10%。
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如果按照平均年薪2.5万英磅来算，由长相而导致的收入差别一年可达2500英镑——每周约50英镑。
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究竟是什么原因导致这一现象目前还不清楚，但可能是因为美貌能带来自信。自信的人可能看起来做的要比实际好，而且在要求加薪方面也没有那么多的顾虑。
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美国耶鲁大学的研究人员杰森?弗莱切给这些年轻男女的容貌进行打分。超过一半的人属于中等长相，7%的人被认为十分有吸引力，8%的人被认为没有吸引力或非常缺乏吸引力。
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这些参与调查的志愿者们还接受了一个IQ测试，并透露了他们的薪水。他们的工资水平显失公平。
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举例来说，IQ得分每增长14分，工资能增长3%至6%。但如果长相不凡，工资则会增长5%至10%。
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据《经济学信笺》期刊的报告，如果一个长相平平的人想和长得漂亮的人拿一样的薪水，那么他们的智商必须比漂亮的人高40%。
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弗莱切博士说：“这些结果表明，长相对于薪资的确有影响，而且这一影响可能还相当大。”
