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A new study shows that beautiful people are more likely to support right-wing parties because they are stronger and more successful than their liberal counterparts.

Political scholars Rolfe Daus Peterson from Susquehanna University and Carl Palmar of Illinois State University carried out the study. The researchers say that this is the first time that the effects of physical attractiveness on politics have been examined on this level. They also state that there is “good reason to believe that individuals’ physical attractiveness may alter their political values and worldviews.”

The researchers further claim that their findings prove attractive people tend to lean towards the right because “they have better social skills and are more popular, competent and intelligent due to the “halo effect.” Halo effect is an idea that bias and stereotypes influence the way people judge others.

The pair wrote about their findings in the Politics and Life Sciences journal published in December last year. They said that on average, hotter people “have an easier life” and as such, do not see the need for more welfare, aid and government support, compared to their left-wing counterparts.

The pair used figures from two earlier surveys. They took figures from the 1972, 1974 and 1976 American National Studies surveys that asked the participants to evaluate the appearance of others.

The survey also explored the political beliefs, income, race, gender, and education of participants. They then compared those results with the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study (WLS) that examined the characteristics of over 10,000 high school graduates who were rated by others on their level of attractiveness.

Peterson and Palmer then brought everything together and argued that there’s a connection between an individual’s physical attractiveness and political beliefs could be revealed.

They also say that people may vary in what they view as attractive, the criteria for attractiveness, however, appears to be consistent within cultural groups, pointing to earlier, available evidence of just what beauty is and what it means.

The study says hot people tend to favor the right because they do not see the need for more government support or aid in society- something that falls within the core values of liberals.

The researchers add that attractive people don’t have the same challenges as others as their mere attractiveness affords them more attention and they become more successful in social situations. Attractive people’s lives are generally easier. With that, they need lesser government intervention that is why they are more likely to favor right-wing conservative parties. This finding is consistent with another previous study that also concluded that conservatives are more attractive than liberals.

Source:

https://www.indy100.com/article/conservatives-republicans-more-attractive-left-wing-lefties-hotter-rolfe-daus-peterson-carl-palmer-8181196