A new study shows that the more physically attractive people are, the less likely they’ll have tinnitus, asthma, diabetes, depression and high blood pressure.
Researchers at the University of Cincinnati studied 15,000 men and women aged 24 to 35 who have been followed since they were 10, according to the Daily Mail. They did face-to-face interviews and questionnaires, analysis of health data and face-to-face physical attractiveness assessment. Their findings will be published in the journal “Evolution And Human Behaviour.”
Both men and women who were rated as very physically attractive were more positive about their health and said that they feel healthy.
Evolution is one theory for better health in attractive people because they have a higher likelihood of having more children. But there researchers are still investigating other theories.
“People think that ‘what is beautiful is good,’ and we call this a halo effect,” said Dr. Viren Swami, reader in psychology at the University of Westminster. “Attractive people are perceived as having all kinds of wonderful, positive qualities, and seen as being happier, more popular, more successful, and so on.”
“We also treat them more positively than less attractive people,” he said. “This being the case, it’s quite possible that the health benefits of being attractive are the result of this better treatment.”
Swami also said that attractive people are “more likely to be hired, less likely to be fired, and receive a higher starting wage,” which could affect their happiness in life.
“So, the health benefit may be an indirect outcome of better treatment in societies that value attractiveness,” he said. “I’m not suggesting the evolutionary perspective is incorrect, only that it’s not the full explanation.”