We measure the impact of individuals’ looks on their life satisfaction or happiness using
various sets of data from the U.S., Canada, the U.K., and Germany. The results show that:
1. Personal beauty raises happiness.
2. The majority of this positive effect comes about because personal beauty improves
economic outcomes – incomes, marriage prospects, and others – that increase happiness.
Thus much of the positive effect of beauty on happiness is indirect – through its effects on
aspects of economic life that increase happiness.
3. The total effects of beauty on happiness are about the same for men and women. But the
direct effect is larger among women – beauty affects their happiness independent of its
impact on their incomes, marriage prospects, and other outcomes.