Physical attractiveness and criminal justice processing: results from a longitudinal sample of youth and young adults

Abstract

A substantial body of research examining the role that attractiveness plays in a wide range of outcomes has revealed that attractiveness is a beneficial characteristic across multiple domains of life, including some related to crime and the criminal justice system. The current study uses these findings as a springboard to examine the potential association between attractiveness and multiple measures of criminal justice processing, including being arrested, being convicted, being sentenced to probation and being incarcerated. Analysis of data drawn from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health revealed that more attractive persons were less likely to be arrested and convicted than less attractive persons, but there was no association with odds of being sentenced to probation or incarcerated. Follow-up analyses revealed that the beneficial effect of being attractive was confined solely to females. We discuss possible reasons for these results and provide suggestions for future research.

Face beauty or soul beauty? The influence of facial attractiveness and moral judgment on pain empathy

“…These results indicated that the advantageous effect of facial attractiveness was only found in those with low moral judgment. Previous research has found that high-facial-attractiveness defendants were considered less guilty at trial and received less severe punishment than low-facial-attractiveness defendants ( Efrain, 1974 ; Beaver et al, 2019 ; Bitton and Zvi, 2019 ; Petrauskaitė and Čunichina, 2019 ; Klein and Shtudiner, 2021 ). When low moral actors are subjected to painful stimuli, participants may be more forgiving and felt less aversive toward high facial attractive actors, and therefore showed stronger empathic responses.…”

Beauty is only skin deep: An examination of physical attractiveness, attractive personality, and personal grooming on criminal justice outcomes

“…Within the field of criminal justice, attractiveness appears to also be related to offending [ 5 , 6 ]. If caught, being physically attractive may prove to be advantageous—with research indicating that physically attractive people are treated more leniently by criminal justice actors [ 7 ].…”

“…As it pertains to criminal justice, research suggests that physical attractiveness tends to afford individuals more lenience in the criminal justice system. Beaver et al [ 7 ] examined how physical attractiveness was related to involvement in criminal activity, arrest, conviction, incarceration, and probation. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health, the researchers found that people who were considered attractive were less likely to engage in criminal behavior and less likely to be arrested or convicted.…”

“…Some research in this area also finds that there may be a gender effect when assessing these relationships. For example, when examining outcomes by gender, Beaver et al [ 7 ] found that, while the effect sizes were small, there appears to be a leniency effect for attractive females across various criminal justice outcomes. This relationship, however, was not found for males.…”

Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder: Self-Perception of Physical Attractiveness Among Secondary School Adolescents

“…Researchers have found that attractive students get higher grades from their teachers (Begley, 2009). There are also speculations that attractive patients receive more personalized care from their doctors (Rumsey & Harcourt, 2005), are less likely to be arrested and convicted, and that handsome criminals receive lighter sentences than less attractive convicts (Beaver et al, 2019). On the contrary, unacceptable physical appearance may stigmatize and have a profound negative effect on psychological wellbeing.…”