A study of 4,000 young men and women found that beauty boosted pay cheques more than intelligence.

    Those judged to be the easiest on the eye earned up to 10 per cent more than their less attractive friends and colleagues.

    Applied to the average salary of ￡25,000, the 'plainness penalty' would make a difference of ￡2,500 a year - or around ￡50 a week.

    It is unclear what is behind the phenomenon but it may be that beauty breeds confidence. The self-assured may appear to be doing better than they are and will have fewer qualms about badgering for a pay rise.

    Researcher Jason Fletcher, of Yale University in the U.S., rated the attractiveness of the young men and women. Just over half were judged average, while 7 per cent were felt to be very attractive and 8 per cent were judged unattractive or very unattractive.

    Plainness penalty: Beautiful people, like Birmingham City's MD Karren Brady （left） are paid more than less attractive colleagues, like Ugly Betty （right）

    It is a blow for the Ugly Bettys and Plain Janes - research shows that good looks lead to better pay.

    The volunteers also sat an IQ test and disclosed their salary. It became clear that pay scales were far from fair.

    For instance, a 14-point increase on the IQ score was associated with a 3 to 6 per cent increase in wage. But being of above-average looks boosted pay by 5 to 10 per cent.

    For a plain person to be paid the same as a very attractive one, they would have to be 40 per cent brighter, the journal Economics Letters reports.

    Dr Fletcher said: 'The results do show that people's looks have an impact on their wages and it can be very substantial.'

    一項調查顯示，好的長相能帶來較高的薪水。這對于長相不佳或容貌平平的女孩們來說的確是個打擊。

    一項對四千名年輕男女開展的調查發現，美貌比智慧更能帶來薪水的增長。

    與長相一般的朋友和同事相比，那些被認為長得好看的人能多掙10%.

    如果按照平均年薪2.5萬英磅來算，由長相而導致的收入差別一年可達2500英鎊--每周約50英鎊。

    究竟是什么原因導致這一現象目前還不清楚，但可能是因為美貌能帶來自信。自信的人可能看起來做的要比實際好，而且在要求加薪方面也沒有那么多的顧慮。

    美國耶魯大學的研究人員杰森？弗萊切給這些年輕男女的容貌進行打分。超過一半的人屬于中等長相，7%的人被認為十分有吸引力，8%的人被認為沒有吸引力或非常缺乏吸引力。

    這些參與調查的志愿者們還接受了一個IQ測試，并透露了他們的薪水。他們的工資水平顯失公平。

    舉例來說，IQ得分每增長14分，工資能增長3%至6%.但如果長相不凡，工資則會增長5%至10%.

    據《經濟學信箋》期刊的報告，如果一個長相平平的人想和長得漂亮的人拿一樣的薪水，那么他們的智商必須比漂亮的人高40%.

    弗萊切博士說："這些結果表明，長相對于薪資的確有影響，而且這一影響可能還相當大。"