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A study of 4,000 young men and women found that beauty boosted pay cheques more than intelligence.
Those judged to be the easiest on the eye earned up to 10 per cent more than their less attractive friends and colleagues.
Applied to the average salary of ￡25,000, the 'plainness penalty' would make a difference of ￡2,500 a year - or around ￡50 a week.
It is unclear what is behind the phenomenon but it may be that beauty breeds confidence. The self-assured may appear to be doing better than they are and will have fewer qualms about badgering for a pay rise.
Researcher Jason Fletcher, of Yale University in the U.S., rated the attractiveness of the young men and women. Just over half were judged average, while 7 per cent were felt to be very attractive and 8 per cent were judged unattractive or very unattractive.
Plainness penalty: Beautiful people, like Birmingham City's MD Karren Brady （left） are paid more than less attractive colleagues, like Ugly Betty （right）
It is a blow for the Ugly Bettys and Plain Janes - research shows that good looks lead to better pay.
The volunteers also sat an IQ test and disclosed their salary. It became clear that pay scales were far from fair.
For instance, a 14-point increase on the IQ score was associated with a 3 to 6 per cent increase in wage. But being of above-average looks boosted pay by 5 to 10 per cent.
For a plain person to be paid the same as a very attractive one, they would have to be 40 per cent brighter, the journal Economics Letters reports.
Dr Fletcher said: 'The results do show that people's looks have an impact on their wages and it can be very substantial.'
一项调查显示，好的长相能带来较高的薪水。这对于长相不佳或容貌平平的女孩们来说的确是个打击。
一项对四千名年轻男女开展的调查发现，美貌比智慧更能带来薪水的增长。
与长相一般的朋友和同事相比，那些被认为长得好看的人能多挣10%.
如果按照平均年薪2.5万英磅来算，由长相而导致的收入差别一年可达2500英镑--每周约50英镑。
究竟是什么原因导致这一现象目前还不清楚，但可能是因为美貌能带来自信。自信的人可能看起来做的要比实际好，而且在要求加薪方面也没有那么多的顾虑。
美国耶鲁大学的研究人员杰森？弗莱切给这些年轻男女的容貌进行打分。超过一半的人属于中等长相，7%的人被认为十分有吸引力，8%的人被认为没有吸引力或非常缺乏吸引力。
这些参与调查的志愿者们还接受了一个IQ测试，并透露了他们的薪水。他们的工资水平显失公平。
举例来说，IQ得分每增长14分，工资能增长3%至6%.但如果长相不凡，工资则会增长5%至10%.
据《经济学信笺》期刊的报告，如果一个长相平平的人想和长得漂亮的人拿一样的薪水，那么他们的智商必须比漂亮的人高40%.
弗莱切博士说："这些结果表明，长相对于薪资的确有影响，而且这一影响可能还相当大。"
