Beauty is associated with lower support for redistribution and with a higher likelihood of believing that economic success depends more on individual effort rather than external circumstances

Attractiveness and Preferences for Redistribution. Andrea Fazio. Economics & Human Biology, May 11 2022, 101145. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ehb.2022.101145

Highlights

• We show that beauty is associated with lower support for redistribution and with a higher likelihood of believing that economic success depends more on individual effort rather than external circumstances.

• We also find that attractiveness correlates with voting for the Free Democratic Party (FDP), which historically advocates a low level of taxation.

• The beauty premium in the labor market does not fully explain our results.

• The relationship between beauty and preferences for redistribution might depend on how attractive individuals rationalize the advantages they get thanks to their beauty.

Abstract: Using unique German survey data, we show that beauty is associated with lower support for redistribution and that attractive individuals are more likely to believe that economic success depends more on individual effort rather than external circumstances. These results are consistent with voting behavior, as we find that beauty correlates with voting for the Free Democratic Party (FDP), which historically advocates a low level of taxation. These associations do not differ by gender and remain also if household income and employment status are controlled for, suggesting that the relationship between attractiveness and political preferences is not fully explained by the beauty premium in the labor market. We test alternative channels that might drive our results, but the correlation between attractiveness and preferences for redistribution always persists. We suggest that our results might be explained by the way in which attractive individuals rationalize the advantages they get thanks to their beauty.

JEL: D63D69D72Z1

Keywords: BeautyPolitical PreferencesPreferences for Redistribution