Being attractive has always been the mantra to lure in potential partners and to receive hikes and promotions at work. Now, a new study has added one more benefit to being a pretty face. A new University of Illinois-Chicago study has found that good-looking high school kids have higher GPAs on an average than the rest of their class.
For the study, the researchers analysed the data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health of nearly 9,000 high school students. They were tracked right from their early teens (1994-95) into their 20s and 30s.
Rachel Gordon and a team of researchers compared their attractiveness with GPA data and found that "the attractive do have a GPA advantage (over) the average," according to USA Today.
The researchers said that attractive students not only got the benefit of the grades for their above-average looks but also got considerable 'psychosocial resources' to help them score well.
The experts also added that students rated unattractive were not necessarily the worst performers in school. However, they were found to be more depressed and had fewer friends.
Although better-looking students have huge benefits in high school, they have their own share of misery as well. Gordon said that they are more pressured to be involved in relationships; sexual activity and alcoholism that could negatively impact their grades in college.
The study could not find out the bias levels directed towards High School boys and girls that were considered more attractive.
"We did want to highlight the importance of looking at physical attractiveness in high school and adolescents, given that it's been looked at so little in academic literature," Gordon said. "We may be able to help teachers and students get past the way looks affect those initial impressions."
The findings will be published online Friday in a peer-reviewed book, 'Physical Attractiveness and the Accumulation of Social and Human Capital in Adolescence and Young Adulthood.'
