Is Your Leadership Selection Process Biased?
New research shows that there’s another bias that creeps into the leadership selection process, and more often than you probably think. A comprehensive study¹ just published found a strong and robust relationship between physical attractiveness and leader emergence (i.e., the process by which an individual becomes a leader of others, which can happen through informal or formal means). This is problematic, as there is no demonstrated relationship between physical attractiveness and leadership effectiveness²’³. In other words, individuals are being selected into leadership roles based on characteristics that do not predict success in such roles.
Key Findings
Other key findings of the meta-analysis, which integrated the results of 65 different studies on the topic included:
- Attractive men and women seem to benefit to the same degree.
- The relationship between physical attractiveness and leader emergence is over three times as large as the much more well-known relationship between gender and leader emergence⁴.
- People’s work experience had only a modest effect at minimizing this bias, as there was just a marginal difference between studies that involved college students and those that involved working adults.
- Physical attractiveness was still a strong predictor of being placed in a formal leadership role, indicating that even using a standard, more structured selection process does not adequately address the beauty bias⁵’⁶ problem.
- Attractive individuals in non-executive leadership roles benefit just as much as attractive executives, indicating that there is more driving the relationship than a need to be “the face of the organization.”
Why do Attractive People Emerge as Leaders?
- In addition to establishing the relationship between attractiveness and leadership emergence, the study also set out to explain why attractive individuals are more likely to be seen as leaders. In other words, what characteristics are people automatically and unconsciously associating with attractive individuals? Here, they found that:
- The biggest driver by far was perceived warmth, which “captures perceptions by an observer of a target’s friendliness, trustworthiness, and kindness.” This makes people believe that the individuals who they select as leaders (either formally or informally) are more likely to serve others instead of serving themselves. However, there is no researching showing a relationship between attractiveness and this personality trait.
- While much less of a factor, they also found that attractive individuals had higher perceived competence, which “captures perceptions of a target’s intelligence, power, efficacy, and skill. ”This is seen as important for a leader to have because it helps them to be successful at accomplishing the team’s objectives, which then elevates the status of the individual members within the team. Again, there is no relationship between attractiveness and intelligence.
It’s Not Just About Attractiveness
And, it’s not just physical attractiveness. Other research⁷ has shown that physical height is a moderately strong predictor of leadership emergence. When these findings are coupled with a much larger body of research on how a person’s appearance can influence others’ perceptions of them, there is a good chance that many of your current leaders were selected not just because of their performance or experience, but because of how they look, as well.
Avoiding the Beauty Bias in Your Leadership Selection Process
In order to ensure that you are selecting candidates based on characteristics that will actually predict success in those roles, part of your standard leadership selection process (even for current employees who are being considered for a promotion) should consist of an objective, whole-person assessment that measures an individual’s personality, cognitive capabilities, and actual leadership style through psychometric measures. This should be accompanied by a structured interview that is done over the phone or via a camera off, online call to avoid being unconsciously influenced by the candidate’s appearance. This has been PCI’s exclusive approach to assessing candidates for many years. The present study serves as a powerful reminder for why this is a best practice to employ if your goal is to select leaders who really have what it takes to be effective. As the saying goes, “It’s what’s inside that counts,” and by having a way to objectively measure that, you can avoid falling victim to the beauty bias.
Key Takeaways
- The research is clear: it’s common for the leadership selection process to be influenced by unconscious biases related to physical appearance – particularly attractiveness – despite no evidence that these traits predict leadership effectiveness.
- Attractive individuals are more likely to be perceived as warm and competent, which drives their emergence as leaders, often overshadowing more relevant qualifications like experience or ability.
- The findings highlight the importance of using structured, objective assessments that focus on qualities truly linked to leadership success.
- By incorporating psychometric evaluations and minimizing visual bias during interviews, organizations can make more informed, equitable decisions – ensuring that leaders are chosen for what truly matters: their capability, not their appearance.
Citations
² Jackson, L. A., Hunter, J. E., & Hodge, C. N. (1995). Physical attractiveness and intellectual competence: A meta-analytic review. Social Psychology Quarterly, 58(2), 108–122.
³ Langlois, J. H., Kalakanis, L., Rubenstein, A. J., Larson, A., Hallam, M., & Smoot, M. (2000). Maxims or myths of beauty? A meta-analytic and theoretical review. Psychological Bulletin, 126(3), 390–423.
⁴ Badura, K. L., Grijalva, E., Newman, D. A., Yan, T. T., & Jeon, G. (2018). Gender and leadership emergence: A meta‐analysis and explanatory model. Personnel Psychology, 71(3), 335–367.
⁵ Berry, B. (2007). Beauty bias: Discrimination and social power. Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing.
⁶ Rhode, D. L. (2010). The beauty bias: The injustice of appearance in life and law. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
⁷ Judge, T. A., & Cable, D. M. (2004). The effect of physical height on workplace success and income: Preliminary test of a theoretical model. Journal of Applied Psychology, 89(3), 428–441.