Feeling Attractive Linked to More Speaking Up at Work, Study Finds
Mar 6th 2026
A Current Psychology study shows that employees who view themselves as attractive are more likely to share ideas and report problems at work when they also believe appearance gives them social influence.
- Self-perceived attractiveness predicted higher promotive and prohibitive voice through an increased sense of perceived impact.
- The link only held for employees who believe appearance functions as a useful social asset, called appearance instrumentality.
- Researchers used a two-wave survey of 153 full-time employees in South Korea across several industries to test the model.
- The pattern appeared similar for men and women in this sample.
- Authors caution the finding is not advice to groom more and may not generalize beyond South Korea's cultural context.