Submitted By,

Chandni Agrawal(H01115)

Varsha
Kulkarni(H048-15)

Acknowledgement
I would like to thank Prof. Kamlesh Singh for all the knowledge and the opportunity to
study and administer the test for Ravens Advanced Progressive Matrices.
I would also like to extend my gratitude towards all the friends for their support.
I would like to thank Indian Institute of Management, Ranchi for all the learning and
knowledge it has imparted to me.

Contents
Acknowledgement..............................................................................................................1
i

Introduction..................................................................................................................1
1.1

Operational Definition.............................................................................................1

1.1.1 Intelligence:.......................................................................................................1
1.1.2 Educative ability:...............................................................................................1
1.1.3 Reproductive ability:..........................................................................................2
This ability shows the capacity to store and reproduce information............................2
1.2

Theories..................................................................................................................2

1.2.1 Classical Test Theory:........................................................................................2

1.2.2 Item Response Theory (IRT):.............................................................................2
1.3
2

Purpose...................................................................................................................2

Method.........................................................................................................................3
2.1

Participant/ Participants..........................................................................................3

2.2

Material...................................................................................................................3

2.2.1 Validity and Reliability.......................................................................................3

2.3

Procedure................................................................................................................5

2.3.1 Instructions........................................................................................................5
2.3.2 Actual Procedure...............................................................................................6
2.3.3 Introspective Report..........................................................................................6
3

Results & Discussion....................................................................................................8

3.1

Data and their comparison with class norms..........................................................8

3.2

Findings.................................................................................................................10

3.2.1 Four types of errors.........................................................................................10

3.3
4

Conclusion based on overall Findings...................................................................13

References..................................................................................................................14

1 Introduction
The topic that is chosen for research purpose is Change of Perception Based on
Attractiveness - Are the Attractive Treated Differently?To study it in detail, a
psychometric test will be constructed and the study will be conducted on the students of
IIM Ranchi as well as few acquaintances of our own whom we know from our previous
companies and some family friends.
Existing Research in Literature

1.1.1Existing research:
Physical attractiveness has always directly or indirectly played a role in how people have
been treated in societies. In its utmost sense, people who are the best looking are
given opportunities to derive benefits, in careers like acting and modeling. But to what
extent, attractiveness can favor, or even hurt, day to day life, such as at our workplace
and in our relationships? Many studies have indicated our appearance and looks can
influence the way we are treated in the workplace and in school. It may even affect our
comfort and well-being in social relationships, as psychologists have found that
attractiveness may have a significant impact on who our friends are, how much attention
and value we command within a social circle.
Beauty in things exists in the mind which contemplates them (Hume, 1757). It says
that our perception decides what is beautiful. Not only this but also our assumptions are
based on our perception about the beauty and attractiveness of others. Thus it is very
common that people strive to be more fashionable, cover his or her body with tattoos to
create a rebellious or humble image, dress up in strict suits to look like an businessman
or academician, and so on. Thus the way people lead their life decides who they are.
Everyone tries to attach an image when we say, businessman or consultant or a teacher.
This is because many of our decisions are dependent on the external appearance of
people. We even assume that when perceived as attractive, an individual may possess
decent psychological and personality traits. We tend to judge more positively people with
more attractive faces. They are perceived as more influential, sexually appealing,
intelligent, trustworthy, outgoing, and healthy, and socially competent (Eagly, Ashmore,
Makhijani, & Longo, 1991; Feingold, 1992). Psychologists call this phenomenon as halo
effect. Theoretically, individuals who are perceived to be attractive benefit from multiple
social advantages, giving them an additional benefit to be more successful.
Physical attractiveness affects the impressions we get by communicating to a person. It
impacts our preferences when hiring an employee. It even decides dating other
individuals. It has an impact on the way we behave with attractive and non-attractive
people. Also modern popular culture decides to the matter of displaying and promoting
the popular and flawless images of attractiveness, and thus many people try significantly
to improve their appearance, by hoping that it will impact and change others perception
about them.

The role attractiveness plays in the job market is visible to us. There are more chances of
getting selected of attractive individuals than non-attractive ones. Same is the case with
people with beautiful faces who are more likely to be selected for jobs. We tend to
consider attractive people as more deserving and more qualified for jobs, They even tend
to receive more starting salary than non attractive people. Overall we can say that
attractive people are benefitted for hiring and other processes (Dipboye, Fromkin, &
Wiback, 1975).
This is like repeating the mistake of judging a book by its cover. We keep on making our
impression of people according to their appearance.
This is true not only when we make hiring or promotion decisions but also while choosing
mates. It is seen according to some researchers that tall, handsome men or beautiful
women are less likely to be single or childless. This is true in case of attractive sales
person, when we make buying decisions. People tend to buy from attractive sales people
than from unattractive ones.
Dr. Gordon Patzer has concluded 3 decades of research on physical attractiveness.
According to him human beings tend more to respond more positively to attractive
people: Attractive men and women are considered to be more honest, talented, kind
and intelligent than their less attractive counterparts. According to Patzer, people go
out an extra mile to help attractive people be it of same sex or opposite sex. This is
because they want to be loved and accepted by attractive people. He says that this is
true not only for young or adults but even babies look longer at attractive faces.
This same thing is shown very beautifully in the video with link:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-3666045/Could-turn-away-lonely-little-girlstreet-Heart-wrenching-video-follows-six-year-old-actor-wearing-nice-clothes-ragsstrangers-react.html
Even if the decisions in some cases are meant to be based on rationale or rather
judgments, we tend to decide based on the appearance of the individuals. This is hard to
believe but the research suggests that the way a person appears affects the severity of
legal punishment for the crime that he/she has committed (Eberhardt, Davies, PurdieVaughns, & Johnson, 2006; Stewart, 1980; Zebrowitz, McDonald, 1991). Same is the case
for parliamentary elections. According to Catherine A. Sanderson as mentioned in her
book Social Psychology- The legal system may even take beauty into account
Research suggests that attractiveness helps when it is about sentences and verdicts. It is
even considered that attractive people are less likely to commit crimes as serious as
unattractive people. There exists a societal view that pretty and beautiful people are
good and wouldnt do bad thing.

Even if we dont tend to consider it true, the statement that attractiveness and success
are correlated appears to be true. We may decide in our mind not to judge people on
their appearance it may not be possible and the possibility cannot be removed in the
near future as well.
Studies show that all humans form first impression despite warnings not to do so.
Although it is rebuked that one should not judge the book by its cover, people generally
ignore that warning in their daily life while making perceptions about others by their
facial appearances.
The flourishing specialization of psychology in the workplace assigns a significant deal of
scrutiny to the process of employee selection. Numerous researches have been done on
employment interviews, particularly inspecting factors beyond the applicants
qualifications involving interviewee-interviewer interactions. Some applicants get an
advantage over their peers with attributes irrelevant to job performance, for example
physical attractiveness & extent of similarity to the interviewer.
In an attempt to delve deeper into this topic, the popular philosophers have devoted a
considerable amount of time to this topic. Plato wrote of so-called "golden proportions,"
wherein, amongst other aspects, the width of an ideal face should be two-thirds its
length, while a nose should no longer be than the distance between the eyes. Plato's
golden proportions, however, dont quite hold up to the rigors of modern psychological
and biological research -- though there is belief in the ancient Greeks' attempts to decide
on a fundamental symmetry that humans might find attractive.
One of the prime students of beauty and success is Daniel Hamermesh of the University
of Texas. Dr Hamermesh brings a completely different perspective to the topic as he is
an economist. He has gathered facts from continents that beauty actually is associated
with successat least, with financial success. He has also revealed that, if all other
parameters are equal, it might be an absolutely legitimate business strategy to select
and hire the more attractive candidate. Almost over a decade ago Dr Hamermesh lead
over a series of surveys in the Canada and US which showed that when all other aspects
are taken into account, ugly people earn less than average incomes, while beautiful
people earn more than the average. He has corroborated it by showing and quantifying
the penalty and premium associated here. He proves that the ugliness Penalty for men
was -9% and the premium for beauty was +5%. However the figures are showing less
effect on females where the penalty was -6% and premium was +4%. Further he goes on
to measure these figures in other places as well. In China, attractiveness is more
rewarded and ugliness is more penalised. In Shanghai the figures are -25% and +3% for
males and for females they are -31% and +10%. In Britain the figures are worse for
males as compared to females if they are unattractive This disparity also applies within
other professions. Dr Hamermesh looked at the careers of several members of a specific
(though discreetly anonymous) law school in America. He found out that those who were
3

rated attractive based on their graduation photos were earning comparatively higher
salaries than their less well-favoured colleagues. Moreover, lawyers doing private
practice tended to be more attractive than those working in government departments.
One of the prime students of beauty and success is Daniel Hamermesh of the University
of Texas. Dr Hamermesh brings a completely different perspective to the topic as he is
an economist. He has gathered facts from continents that beauty actually is associated
with successat least, with financial success. He has also revealed that, if all other
parameters are equal, it might be an absolutely legitimate business strategy to select
and hire the more attractive candidate. Almost over a decade ago Dr Hamermesh lead
over a series of surveys in the Canada and US which showed that when all other aspects
are taken into account, ugly people earn less than average incomes, while beautiful
people earn more than the average. He has corroborated it by showing and quantifying
the penalty and premium associated here. He proves that the ugliness Penalty for men
was -9% and the premium for beauty was +5%. However the figures are showing less
effect on females where the penalty was -6% and premium was +4%. Further he goes on
to measure these figures in other places as well. In China, attractiveness is more
rewarded and ugliness is more penalised. In Shanghai the figures are -25% and +3% for
males and for females they are -31% and +10%. In Britain the figures are worse for
males as compared to females if they are unattractive This disparity also applies within
other professions. Dr Hamermesh looked at the careers of several members of a specific
(though discreetly anonymous) law school in America. He found out that those who were
rated attractive based on their graduation photos were earning comparatively higher
salaries than their less well-favoured colleagues. Moreover, lawyers doing private
practice tended to be more attractive than those working in government department.

1.2 Operational Definition

Attractiveness:
Fair complexion, Dark eyes, long and silky hair,

1.3 Theories
A number of factors can play into individual attractiveness the way one acts, the way
one dresses, the way one carries oneself, even matters that are tough or impossible to
change, like social status and wealth, race, and body shape and size. However, the first
aspect we notice when we meet someone is their face. The brain also functions as a
beauty detector.

1.3.1Physical Attractiveness Stereotype and Implicit Personality

Theory:
To define stereotype as a set of beliefs about the characteristics of group members into
the language of implicit personality theory, Ashmore and Del Boca (1979) defined
stereotype as "a structured set of inferential relations that link a social category with
personal attributes". Research on the beauty-is-good stereotype tries to view the
inferential relations between physical attractiveness and personal attributes. The social
categories of attractive and unattractive people can thus be associated in individuals'
cognitions with various dimensions of personality.

1.3.2Behavioral Confirmation Theory

Not only the perceivers fashion their images of their subject on the basis of their
stereotyped intuitions about beauty and goodness of character, but these impressions
initiated a chain of events that resulted in the behavioral confirmation of these initially
erroneous inferences. Based on the perceived attractiveness of the candidates the
participants make decisions with respect to their selection or rejection for a job or as a
friend or for that matter even just a social acquaintance.

1.4 Purpose

To study the perceptions of college youth about attractiveness

To study if attractive people have advantages over deserving unattractive ones
To study if future managers or existing recruiters select give preferences to
attractive people in various decision making processes, e.g. Recruitment,
Promotion etc.

2 Method
2.1 Participant/ Participants

Students of IIM Ranchi- Both 1st year students and 2nd year students
Colleagues from the previous organizations and in the age group of 30 years

2.2 Material

The questionnaire of questions- paper pencil test

The questionnaires floated through mails-Computer Administered Test

2.2.1Validity and Reliability

2.3 Procedure
2.3.1Instructions

You are not allowed to communicate by word of mouth or otherwise with other candidates
Please raise your hand if you wish to communicate with an invigilator
Unless granted permission by an invigilator, you are not allowed to leave your seat

Once you have entered the examination hall, you will not be allowed to leave the hall until the test is
completed
Try to attempt all the questions
Give the answer that first comes to your mind; Dont try to be someone else

Be seated at the place of your comfort

2.3.2Actual Procedure
The test that we conducted for this topic consisted of two modes. The first one was
paper and pencil test, wherein we administered the test.
Paper and Pencil Test
The Paper and Pencil test was conducted in IIM-Ranchi. We carried the hard copies
of the questionnaires to be distributed among participants who are students of 1st
year
The instructions and a brief introduction about the topic as well as the purpose of
the topic were provided. We also tried to make it clear that the test would be
anonymous, in order to avoid Socially Desirable Answers.
We also made it clear that the responses will only be used for academic purpose, in
order to assure them of proper use of their data.
We tried to make the atmosphere a bit light, since it is necessary that the
participants elicit correct answers. Then consent was obtained from the
participants for taking the test.
Then the questionnaire copies were distributed among the participants.
Online test-via Questionnaire circulation
In this method, the questionnaire was mailed to the participants who were the
colleagues from our previous organizations as well as present classmates.
Since, we could not personally give them the instructions; we mentioned those in
the questionnaire itself
A period of 6 days was given to them to complete the questionnaire
Reminder mails were sent to them after 2days. The responses were then collected

2.3.3Introspective Report
2.3.3.1Administrators Responsibilities:
As the administrator of the test being carried out, I ensured that the instructions in
the manual were followed
I tried to ensure that there was no effect of interruptions due to
The text anxiety of the participant was allayed by giving the practice set i.e. Set i
Before the participant could take the assessment, I explained the nature of the
assessment, why it is being used, the conditions under which the candidates will
be assessed, and the nature of any feedback she will receive.
Due to the good relationship that existed between the participant and me, I only
obtained informed consent from the candidate before the assessment was taken.
No informed consent form in a written was obtained.
Administering the APM took about one hour in total, including giving directions to
candidates, answering questions about the assessment procedures, and actual
assessment time.
6

2.3.3.2Assessment Conditions
The conditions for improving score accuracy and maintaining the cooperation of
the candidates were good lighting; comfortable seating; adequate desk or table
space; a pleasant and professional attitude on the part of the administrator; and
freedom from noise and other distractions.
The participant had questions about the interpretation of a couple of items but I
only encouraged her to respond to the items as she best understood it.

3 Results & Discussion

3.1 Findings
3.2 Conclusion based on overall Findings

4 References