Study Finds Women Who Wear Makeup Are Deemed More Competent; Law Prof Isn't Swayed
A law professor who has written a book on beauty bias would like women in the workplace to be judged on the basis of competence, not cosmetics.
Stanford University law professor Deborah Rhode is disappointed by a recent study finding that women who wear makeup are deemed to be more competent, the New York Times reports. “I’m against our preoccupation [with beauty], and how judgments about attractiveness spill over into judgments about competence and job performance,” she told the newspaper.
The study, funded by makeup manufacturer Procter & Gamble, asked both men and women to judge the pictures of 25 female subjects. Each subject posed for four photos. In one photo, the subjects wore no makeup. In the others, the subjects were made up for a natural look, a professional look and a glamorous look.
In one part of the study, 149 adults were allowed to view the photos for 250 milliseconds each. In a second part of the study, 119 adults were allowed an unlimited amount of time to see the photos. Both groups viewed the women with makeup as more competent than barefaced women.
Those who viewed the photos for as long as they wanted, however, viewed the glamorous subjects wearing the most makeup as less trustworthy. Procter & Gamble scientist Sarah Vickery was one of the authors of the study. “There are times when you want to give a powerful ‘I’m in charge here’ kind of impression, and women shouldn’t be afraid to do that,” she told the Times, perhaps by wearing a deeper-colored lipstick.
Rhode isn’t swayed by the findings. “I don’t wear makeup, nor do I wish to spend 20 minutes applying it,” she says.
