Early attractiveness slightly predicts more socially effective adult personality
Feb 26th 2026
A replication study in Personality and Individual Differences finds that childhood and teenage attractiveness is a small but consistent predictor of a broadly socially effective adult personality across two large longitudinal samples, though the effect size is modest and explanations remain uncertain.
- Researchers analyzed two long-term cohorts: the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study and the National Child Development Study.
- Attractiveness was rated from high school yearbook photos in the US sample and by teachers at ages seven and eleven in the UK sample.
- Higher early attractiveness was associated with a higher general factor of personality, a broad measure of social effectiveness in adulthood.
- When the general factor was removed statistically, most links between attractiveness and individual Big Five traits disappeared, with openness remaining in the US sample and conscientiousness in the UK sample.
- The observed effects are small and do not imply that attractive people always have better personalities.
- Authors report genetics did not fully explain the link and suggest differential treatment, or the halo effect, as a possible mechanism.