Human Resource Management and Evolutionary Psychology
Exploring the Biological Foundations of Managing People at Work
Andrew R. Timming
Chapter 5: The effect of facial (a)symmetry on employment chances: smarter, healthier, sexier, more productive?
Andrew R. Timming
Extract
This chapter examines the previously unexplored question of whether job applicants with asymmetrical facial features are perceived as less employable in comparison to applicants with more symmetrical facial features. The study presents evidence that hiring managers prefer job applicants with symmetrical faces. Evolutionary psychology may in part explain this finding. More specifically, evolutionary psychologists have posited that symmetrical faces signal attractiveness, health, and intelligence. It is, therefore, possible that hiring managers’ preferences for job applicants with symmetrical features may well be rooted in primitive sexual preferences.
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