Blir man lycklig av att vara vacker? Den frågan besvaras i den nya studien ”Beauty Is the Promise of Happiness?”:

We measure the impact of individuals’ looks on their life satisfaction or happiness using various sets of data from the U.S., Canada, the U.K., and Germany. The results show that: 1. Personal beauty raises happiness. 2. The majority of this positive effect comes about because personal beauty improves economic outcomes – incomes, marriage prospects, and others – that increase happiness. Thus much of the positive effect of beauty on happiness is indirect – through its effects on aspects of economic life that increase happiness. 3. The total effects of beauty on happiness are about the same for men and women. But the direct effect is larger among women – beauty affects their happiness independent of its impact on their incomes, marriage prospects, and other outcomes. Because the beauty measures are collected in a variety of ways, and because happiness is also measured in various ways, we can be quite confident in the general validity of the conclusions.

Resultaten är inte helt förvånande, givet tidigare forskning, som visar att vackra personer behandlas bättre i alla möjliga sammanhang, från barnsben och uppåt.