It may seem unfair, but being unattractive could mean you’re more likely to die younger than your attractive peers.
In fact, “ugly” men live on average almost a year less than those considered handsome.
And unattractive women die on average two years earlier than their better-looking counterparts, according to a US study. study published in Social Sciences and Medicine.
The researchers, from Arizona State University and the University of Texas at Austin, analyzed data from a long-running study that followed more than 8,300 Wisconsin high school students from 1957 until old age or death in 2022.
In addition to a lifetime of health data, the researchers also collected yearbook photographs and had independent referees rate their attractiveness.
Those in the bottom sextile for attractiveness were 16.8 percent more likely to have died than those in the middle four.
The participants’ appearance was then ranked into six categories, from most attractive to least attractive.
Using the National Death Index, the researchers also compared deaths in the group through 2022 and found that nearly half of the sample had died by the end of the follow-up period.
Those in the bottom six of the attractiveness categories were 16.8 percent more likely to have died than those in the middle four.
The difference in mortality rate between the four middle rankings and those ranked highest in attractiveness was not significant.
“Little is known about the association between facial attractiveness and longevity,” write social scientist Connor Sheehan of Arizona State University and economist Daniel Hamermesh of the University of Texas at Austin in their published paper.
“But attractiveness can convey underlying health and systematically structure critical processes of social stratification.”
“Overall, we found that those whose facial attractiveness was rated in the least attractive sextile had a higher lifetime mortality risk compared with those rated as average or high,” the study authors write.
‘Importantly, we found little advantage in longevity for those rated as having high levels of attractiveness relative to the average.’
Although attractiveness has not been shown to directly affect longevity, it may have an influence (more attractive people may be healthier, for example), Dr. Sheehan explained in an interview at Arizona State University.
He said: “Attractiveness could directly influence longevity, as numerous studies have shown that there is a genetic component to attractiveness.”
But she adds that, as social media conversations about “beauty privilege” have highlighted, more attractive people are treated better in everyday interactions.
There is also ample social scientific evidence showing that more attractive people earn more, are treated better by teachers, are less likely to commit crimes and, when they do, receive lighter sentences, adds Dr. Sheehan.
Dr. Hamermesh agrees that while it’s possible that unattractive faces are a sign that people are already less healthy (for example, symmetrical faces indicate people better able to fight off disease), social effects were the more likely explanation.
He suggested that if the difference is caused by social bias, the results could change.
“Over time, if people didn’t pay so much attention to appearance in everyday life, I’m pretty sure that 100 years from now we wouldn’t see these differences in longevity,” he told the Times.