Evidence map›Paper›PMID 27249216›Full record

ArticlePloS one2016

Attractiveness Compensates for Low Status Background in the Prediction of Educational Attainment.

Shawn Bauldry, Michael J Shanahan, Rosemary Russo, Brent W Roberts, Rodica Damian

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in PloS one, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

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Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Shawn BauldryDepartment of Sociology, University of Alabama-Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama, United States of America.
Michael J ShanahanDepartment of Sociology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States of America.
Rosemary RussoDepartment of Sociology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States of America.
Brent W RobertsDepartment of Psychology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana-Champaign, Illinois, United States of America.
Rodica DamianDepartment of Psychology, University of Houston, Houston, Texas, United States of America.

Funding

Wave IV Data CollectionP01HD031921 · NICHD · UNIV OF NORTH CAROLINA CHAPEL HILL · PI HARRIS, KATHLEEN MULLAN · 1994 to 2020
$86.1M
Research Services CoreP2CHD050924 · NICHD · UNIV OF NORTH CAROLINA CHAPEL HILL · PI KAREN B GUZZO · 2015 to 2026
$9.6M
Genetic Risk, Pathways to Adulthood, and Health InequalitiesR01HD061622 · NICHD · UNIV OF NORTH CAROLINA CHAPEL HILL · PI SHANAHAN, MICHAEL J · 2010 to 2014
$2.0M
NICHD NIH HHS P01 HD031921NICHD NIH HHS P2C HD050924NICHD NIH HHS R01 HD061622
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundPeople who are perceived as good looking or as having a pleasant personality enjoy many advantages, including higher educational attainment. This study examines (1) whether associations between physical/personality attractiveness and educational attainment vary by parental socioeconomic resources and (2) whether parental socioeconomic resources predict these forms of attractiveness. Based on the theory of resource substitution with structural amplification, we hypothesized that both types of attractiveness would have a stronger association with educational attainment for people from disadvantaged backgrounds (resource substitution), but also that people from disadvantaged backgrounds would be less likely to be perceived as attractive (amplification).

methodsThis study draws on data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health-including repeated interviewer ratings of respondents' attractiveness-and trait-state structural equation models to examine the moderation (substitution) and mediation (amplification) of physical and personality attractiveness in the link between parental socioeconomic resources and educational attainment.

resultsBoth perceived personality and physical attractiveness have stronger associations with educational attainment for people from families with lower levels of parental education (substitution). Further, parental education and income are associated with both dimensions of perceived attractiveness, and personality attractiveness is positively associated with educational attainment (amplification). Results do not differ by sex and race/ethnicity. Further, associations between perceived attractiveness and educational attainment remain after accounting for unmeasured family-level confounders using a sibling fixed-effects model.

conclusionsPerceived attractiveness, particularly personality attractiveness, is a more important psychosocial resource for educational attainment for people from disadvantaged backgrounds than for people from advantaged backgrounds. People from disadvantaged backgrounds, however, are less likely to be perceived as attractive than people from advantaged backgrounds.

Indexed as

Educational StatusFemaleHumansLongitudinal StudiesMale

Identifiers

PMID27249216
PMCPMC4889034

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.