How Adolescent Attractiveness Predicts Adult Income

Live Poster Session: https://wesleyan.zoom.us/j/93382764114

Ivan Harris

Ivan Harris is a sophomore at Wesleyan University majoring in Economics. He is from San Francisco, California, where he attended Lick-Wilmerding High School. While taking Applied Data Analysis, Ivan learned how to use R to conduct statistical analyses while working on his semester-long research project. He plans on using what he has learned in QAC201 to further enrich his skills in the discipline of Economics. Outside of his academics, Ivan likes to play basketball and draw.

Abstract: The existing literature agrees that the income effects of attractiveness exist, and are felt differently by men and women (Kukkonen, Pajunen, Sarpila & Åberg, 2024). This study found that this effect also exists for the correlation between attractiveness in adolescense and income in adulthood. However, the effects are not linear. Among the least attractive groups of both men and women, incomes are higher than the second to least attractive group. Among the most attractive group of men, incomes are significantly higher than the second to most attractive group. However, among women, incomes between the most attractive two groups are about the same.