FAQ > About Subjective Well-Being (Happiness and Life Satisfaction), by Dr. Diener > Q: What about physical beauty?
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A: Our research on physical attractiveness shows that it has a small, but positive, influence on SWB. Like income and health, the effect is not large. But there is a small effect such that pretty and handsome people on average are slightly happier than the unattractive. Of course there are lots of individual exceptions in both directions - attractive people who are unhappy and unattractive people who are quite happy. The data suggest that there is a slight advantage for attractive people in terms of SWB, just as there is a modest advantage for wealthier people in terms of SWB.
Last updated on September 14, 2007 by Dr. Walt