Effects of children's attractiveness on teachers' evaluations

After viewing the photograph of a physically attractive or unattractive
child and a vignette depicting a misbehavior possibly committed
by the child, 144 female teachers evaluated the pupil for blame, personality,
and punishment before and after reading a report card characterizing
the child as a good, satisfactory, or poor student. Though
attractive children generally received more desirable personality
ratings than unattractive children, a misbehavior was deemed less
undesirable if attributed to unattractive rather than attractive children.
Furthermore, unattractive girls were blamed less frequently and
received more lenient recommendations for punishment than did unattractive
boys. Implications for the physical attractiveness stereotyping
hypothesis are discussed as well as explanations for the differential
evaluations based on the child's sex.