WHEN GOOD THINGS HAPPEN TO ATTRACTIVE PEOPLE

A friend recently asked me which celebrity would play me in a movie about my life. Lucy Liu immediately sprang to mind. But I can't say that's because we look so much alike. (My choices were pretty limited…how many Asian actresses do you know?) Unfortunately, I will never be mistaken for Ms. Liu (of the small screen's Ally McBeal and the big screen's Charlie's Angels). But I'm not going to lose too much sleep over the fact that my face won't earn me millions of dollars. Luckily for me, my paycheck does not depend on how good I look.

Or does it? According to research compiled by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, looks do matter on the job — any job, not just on the pages of a magazine or on film. One study cited a "beauty premium" and "plainness penalty." In short, the better looking you are, the more you earn. Men who are considered homely or have below-average looks, according to the study, earn 9% less per hour than their average-looking compatriots; those with above-average looks earn 5% more. For women, the "plainness penalty" is 5%, and the "beauty premium" is 4%.

How fair is that? It's not, if you don't fall into the above-average category. Most of us fall into that 80% of the bell curve between Angelina Jolie and Quasimodo. But we see this type of appearance discrimination in all aspects of life. There's the attractive friend who gets out of traffic tickets without even trying. And the jerk who has women knocking down his door just because he's hot. (I'll admit that I've gone out with someone because he was attractive, although devoid of personality…lesson learned!)

That's not to say that people are extremely superficial creatures. I hope that appearance-based decisions in the workplace are not made intentionally, but perhaps on a more subconscious level. Researchers speculate that the attractive simply develop more self-confidence. So on the job, that show of confidence can affect your perception and increase your confidence in their abilities. Another possible reason is that you get a good feeling looking at someone you find attractive, and then attribute the positive feelings to that person's character, skills…the total package.

Luckily, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. What one considers plain, another finds beautiful. Hopefully, employers see that talent is a beautiful thing!

Good luck, stay legal, and look for the beauty within!

Gloria Ju
Senior Editor