11th Annual IGSS Conference • September 24, 2020

Integrating Genetics and the Social Sciences 2020

Bald is Beautiful? Life course outcomes for individuals at high genetic risk for male pattern baldness

Yuexuan Xu, University of Wisconsin-Madison

An extensive amount of literature shows that a higher level of attractiveness is associated with socioeconomic success in the United States and many other countries; however, most of the evidence is based on the early- and mid-career outcomes of the younger cohort in cross-sectional studies. In this paper, we combine this question with a novel use of genetic data to investigate one dimension of attractiveness - male-pattern baldness - to explore if the earning premium for physical attractiveness is enduring and consistent across the life spans of males and females by employing longitudinal data from the Health and Retirement Study. We find the genetic effect of baldness on income differs substantially by gender and education in later life. Even though males with lower levels of education and high genetic risk for baldness would expect to suffer greater wage penalties than males with low genetic risk for baldness, this wage gap is not the same for every level of education. Males with higher education and at high risk for baldness tend to earn more than their counterparts at lower risk for baldness do. Conversely, no difference in the effect of education on income is present among females with high or low genetic risk for baldness. However, on average, females with an increased genetic risk for baldness are more likely to suffer wage penalties than their low-genetic-risk counterparts. Our findings illustrate that earning potential based on physical attractiveness may vary across the life span and ability.

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