Som läsare av denna blogg är jag fascinerad av skönhet, såväl som människa och som forskare. Jag har nyligen stött på två studier om kvinnliga tennisspelares utseende.

Den första, ”Are Attractive Female Tennis Players More Successful? An Empirical Analysis”, finner följande:

[W]e investigate professional female tennis players, which were ranked in the top 100 of the tennis world ranking in one selected week in 2011. OLS regressions demonstrate a significant positive relationship between physical attractiveness and sporting success in terms of prize money for the years 2012 and 2013 as well as for the whole career. … Furthermore, the study examines whether the probability of winning an individual tennis match is influenced by physical attractiveness. The logit model used shows that the larger the difference in physical attractiveness, the higher the probability of winning for the more attractive tennis player in individual matches.

Den andra, ”Does Online Media Put Beauty Before Performance? The Impact of Physical Attractiveness on the Popularity of Female Tennis Players in Online Media”, finner följande:

Based on a sample of the top 100 Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) single ranking of one selected calendar week in 2011 and 2012, we find that physical attractiveness significantly increases the popularity on Facebook, SI.com, and Google, as well as the change in online popularity for Facebook and WTA news. Nevertheless, a tennis player’s performance has a larger effect on online popularity than physical attractiveness.

Skönhet tycks alltså vara en gynnsam egenskap även för kvinnliga tennisspelare. Det är mer troligt att de vinner (kan det tänkas bero på att skönhet är kopplat till hälsa/styrka av evolutionära skäl?), och de blir mer poppis på nätet (även om de fysiska prestationerna är ännu viktigare). Jag undrar nu om dessa resultat även gäller manliga tennisspelare. Man kan misstänka det.