THE BIAS OF PHYSICAL ATTRACTIVENESS IN LEADER EMERGENCE: A META-ANALYTIC REVIEW

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to develop understanding of the relationship between physical attractiveness and leadership emergence, and the perceived biases that help explain this relationship. Focused on adult populations in regards to situations involving leadership, findings in this study can be applied to persons in the role of hiring or promoting individuals to higher levels of leadership by helping them to identify biases that influence their decisions in selecting leaders. Through conducting a meta-analysis, I completed an extensive literature review to gather previous studies on physical attractiveness and leader emergence, and coded and quantitatively summarized the studies. Results of the meta-analysis showed positive relationships between physical attractiveness, perceived social competence, and leader emergence. Additionally, I found that male raters anchor more on physical attractiveness in decisions involving leader potential and selection, but for male and female leaders themselves, physical attractiveness was equally important for being selected as a leader.