IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/soceco/v117y2025ics2214804325000588.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

More than just grades: The role of physical attractiveness in college admission processes

Author

Listed:
  • Wang, Yunyun
  • Chen, Ting
  • Xiang, Xunyong

Abstract

Despite extensive research on appearance discrimination in labor markets, little attention has been given to its role in higher education admissions. This paper investigates the impact of students' physical attractiveness on college admission outcomes, using unique data from an international high school in China. Employing an ordered logit model and AI-based attractiveness scoring, we find that more attractive students tend to be admitted to higher-ranked colleges. This effect is particularly pronounced in business-related majors, private institutions, and among male students. Furthermore, face-to-face interviews mitigate the bias induced by physical attractiveness, leading to more balanced admission decisions. These findings suggest that the “beauty premium” extends beyond labor markets into education, with important implications for fairness in university admissions. Our research contributes to the growing body of literature on appearance-based discrimination and highlights the need for more transparent and inclusive admissions practices.

Suggested Citation

  • Wang, Yunyun & Chen, Ting & Xiang, Xunyong, 2025. "More than just grades: The role of physical attractiveness in college admission processes," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 117(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:soceco:v:117:y:2025:i:c:s2214804325000588
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socec.2025.102391
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214804325000588
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.socec.2025.102391?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:soceco:v:117:y:2025:i:c:s2214804325000588. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/620175 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.