Attractiveness and Preferences for Redistribution.

Abstract

Using unique German survey data, we show that beauty is associated with lower
support for redistribution and that attractive individuals are more likely to believe
that income should be based solely on individual achievements. These results seem
to mirror voting behavior, as we find that beauty correlates with voting for the
Free Democratic Party (FDP). Interestingly, these associations do not differ by gen-
der and resit the inclusion of monetary measures, suggesting that the relationship
between attractiveness and political preferences is not explained by the beauty pre-
mium in the labor market. We try to test alternative channels that might drive
our results, but the correlation between attractiveness and preferences for redistri-
bution always persists. We suggest that our results might be explained by the way
in which attractive individuals endogenize the advantages they get thanks to their
beauty. An example might be the self-serving bias. Further research is needed to
understand the relationship between beauty and political preferences.

Keywords: Beauty, Political Preferences, Preferences for Redistribution

JEL Classification: D63, D69, D72, Z1