Don't Hate Me Because I'm Beautiful

"It is better to be beautiful than to be good, but it is better to be good than to be ugly.”
~ Oscar Wilde

When I was young my mother told me that beautiful people have a moral obligation to treat others well because people expect more from them. I found this observation profoundly bewildering, having already met and seen on television so many distinctly unpleasant pretty girls that I associated beauty with obnoxiousness.

It turns out my mother was right. According to new University of Minnesota research discussed in this fascinating PsyBlog post, "People automatically assume others who are more attractive are also more sociable, humorous, intelligent and so on."

The part my mother apparently didn't realize is, it works both ways. Says Psyblog, "people automatically sense how others view them and immediately start exhibiting the expected behaviours."

And so the "Hey, good lookin'" dance begins: heartthrob and conquest run their fingers through their respective manes, cock their heads and do flirty things with their eyes.

Beautiful people. Do they really need all of the breaks?

“People are like stained-glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in, their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within.”
~ Elisabeth Kubler-Ross