Physical Appearance and Securing Employment

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Table of Contents

Outline
Introduction
Religion
Gender Appearance
Sexual Capital
Conclusion
References

Outline

Thesis statement: Physical appearance has been proved to influence an individual’s chances of being employed in the organization. This article reviews journal articles that talk about the relationship between physical appearance and securing employment.

Introduction

Both previous and recent studies confirm that there is a relationship between physical appearance, such as dressing and body physique, and chances of being employed in a company or in the organization. Employers associate certain individuals with particular features such as fat individuals are linked to laziness. Labeling therefore becomes a problem in seeking employment. In the United States for instance, laws have been crafted that eliminate discrimination against physical appearance.

Literature shows that the most beautiful women and handsome men have a better chance of landing a job as opposed to individuals without admirable qualities. It then follows that employment is an independent variable whereas physical traits such as body size, color, height and shape are dependent variables. Without employment as a variable, physical traits could not be relevant within the context of work.

Other factors influence an individual’s chances of being employed in the organization but this paper will specifically focus on physical traits. The paper uses some journal articles to evaluate what other scholars have done in relation to the topic. Dressing code that is identified with particular cultures or religion affects an individual’s chances of being employed. Due to subjective reasons, employers may have a dislike to a potential employee because of appearance and presentation.

Religion

Yaghoob Foroutan examined the relationship between culture and the chances of employment for women in organizations. He set out his research because there was a growing debate over gender and cultural disparity in society. Female Job seekers from Muslim culture had problems securing employment in Australia and other parts of the world as well. The scholar explored the differences between Muslim women and females from other cultures. He found out that Islamic dressing code discriminated women from society.

Few Islam women were employed because employers were uncertain about their demands and desires (Foroutan, 2008). The researcher compared employment rates of female Muslims in Australia and those employed in other parts of the world. He established that there was no difference since other cultures all over the world had problems with Islamic dressing codes.

The researcher employed quantitative research methods in his study. He distributed questionnaires to both employers and Muslim women. The findings were analyzed using regression method in order to substantiate the findings. The findings suggest that dressing code is directly related to chances of securing employment in the organization. Managers and employers in general are reluctant to employ people whom they do not share a culture.

Gender Appearance

Trautner Mary and Kwan Samantha conducted an extensive research pertaining to attractiveness of both men and women. They noted that beauty affects several stages of employment such as appointing, salary, performance assessment and promotion.

Employers expect individuals to be dressed decently during recruitment exercises. Furthermore, only certain air styles attract employers, implying that those with unwanted air styles cannot land jobs. From time to time, employers encourage their employees to maintain certain body figures.

Furthermore, employers regulate the dressing code of employees by insisting on official attires. Those seeking employment must conform to prescribed attires and uniforms. The scholars sought to know why some employers were firing their staff due to increased body sizes. The researchers analyzed some of the cases deliberated by the American law courts relating to employee appearance (Trautner, & Kwan, 2010).

The research concludes that the number of cases keep on increasing meaning that it is a concept that needs more exploration. This aspect encouraged the two scholars to conduct this research. Contrary to popular believe, it is men who were affected most by the dressing code in 1970s. Data from this research reveal that cases differed all along from 1970s. Physical appearances problems in 1970s were concerned with male hair length. The new trend reveals that weight and deviant appearances are the major problems.

This means that employers are keen to recruit individuals who match their tastes and preferences as regards to physical appearance. Tall and slender men are believed to be resourceful while the big-bodied are assumed lazy and unproductive. The scholars collected data through interviews. They followed the tenets of quantitative research methodology.

Lisa Drogosz and Paul Levy conducted a separate study on gender appearance, in which they applied Lack of Fit Model. The scholars evaluated how the theory was utilized in places of work and during recruitment. According to them, some gender characteristics were superior to others.

Individuals with desired qualities were productive than those with no such qualities (Drogosz, & Levy, 1996). Employers tend to go for those employees perceived to have desired qualities. Attractive employees could boost the productivity of the firm as opposed to non-attractive ones.

Therefore, the employer rates recruits as masculine, feminine or neutral. Through their study, they established that Lack of Fit Theory was misplaced. Their findings did not replicate the results of the theory. They found out that attractiveness was the major theme in any organization. Attractive individuals scored high in their jobs. In fact, job category was not an issue because nice-looking individuals emerged top in all types of jobs.

This is what happens during recruitment, meaning that good-looking recruits are given more points as opposed to the unpleasant ones. Individuals possessing either masculine or feminine qualities were rated as being nice-looking. For women, those with good shapes and height were given highest ratings while men with muscles were considered very productive. The researchers used quantitative research method, mainly because they were interested in numbers.

Sexual Capital

Catherine Hakim conducted a study to determine sexual attractiveness, in which she formulated Erotic Capital theory. She believes that erotic capital is a very treasured personal quality that is utilized by individuals to seek favors, including employment. Apart from erotic capital, she identifies other forms of capital such as social, economic and human.

The scholar insists that erotic capital is extremely important in the modern society. Those who can present themselves in an attractive manner will always achieve what they want. This means that even employers are attracted to nudism.

Ladies wearing short cloths that display their bodies attract employers and can easily influence them, hence getting employment (Hakim, 2010). Men with attractive bodies can as well attractive female employers. However, the scholar disputes that a man cannot challenge a woman when it comes to utilization of erotic capital in seeking employment. Women will always win the favors of men during recruitment exercises.

She asserts that women are always working hard to attract men hence giving them a better advantage during recruiting. Upon employment, erotic capital plays an important role in promotion and wage increment. This is because it is usually believed that such individuals bring in more customers.

Zebrowitz, Hall, Murphy & Rhodes concluded their studies by observing that employers can judge an individual’s intelligence from facial appearance. This is only possible when a valid cue of beauty is employed (Zebrowitz, Hall, Murphy, & Rhodes, 2002).

The scholars observe further that a number of reasons contribute to relationship between attractiveness and intelligence. This means that employers use both biological and social factors to tell an individual’s capability. Some are perceived to be lazy by looking at their bodies while others are judged through behavior.

Therefore, it is true that an individual’s body movement can be used to predict his/her chances of landing a job. Individuals who do things faster have an advantage of being employed than others. The research was conducted in various parts of the world to establish the influence of femininity and masculinity in employment. However, the research recommends further studies because scholars used unrepresentative sample. Future researches should use large samples to achieve viable and reliable results.

Conclusion

Trautner and Kwan argue that beauty affects employment processes such as hiring and promotion. On their part, Drogosz and Levy concur with Trautner and Kwan that beauty is indeed a major determinant of employment.

Foroutan discusses about the influence of cultural attire in employment, in which he argues that Islamic attire is an impediment to Islam women worldwide. Hakim further noted that individuals could utilize erotic capital to solicit employment favors. Zebrowitz, Hall, Murphy & Rhodes asserted that employers could tell the character of an individual through facial appearance.

It is therefore true that physical appearance affects an individual’s chances of employment. Attractive individuals have high chances of being employed. Religious attires such as those of Muslims affect their employment opportunities. This literature review is resourceful in telling the relationship between physical appearance and employment.

References

Drogosz, L. & Levy, P. (1996). Another look at the effects of appearance, gender, and job type on performance-based decisions. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 20(3), 437-445.

Hakim, C. (2010). Erotic Capital. European Sociological Review, 26(5), 499-518.

Trautner, M. & Kwan, S. (2010). Gendered appearance norms: An analysis of employment discrimination lawsuits, 1970-2008. Research in the Sociology of Work, 20, 127-150.

Foroutan, Y. (2008). Women’s employment, religion and multiculturalism: Socio-demographic emphasis. Journal of Population Research, 25(1), 63-90.

Zebrowitz, L., Hall, J., Murphy, N., & Rhodes, G. (2002). Looking smart and looking good: Facial cues to intelligence and their origins. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 28(2), 238-249.

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