Lookism in the Chinese Job Advertisements

A Brief Online Cognitive Dissonance-Based Intervention to Reduce Consideration of Cosmetic Surgery and Improve Body Image Among Chinese Women

“…Stronger dissonance could be induced via, for example, incorporating items that aim to untie socioeconomic benefits and life satisfaction with female beauty given that believing beautiful women can gain more socioeconomic benefits is an essential motive for Chinese women to internalize the beauty ideal and undergo cosmetic surgery (Wu, Mulkens, et al, 2022). We recognize, however, that this may be challenging in light of the tangible benefits that Chinese women receive when they are perceived to be more beautiful (e.g., Niu, Baker, et al, 2021).…”

“…In line with objectification theory (Fredrickson & Roberts, 1997), recent qualitative and quantitative studies show that beauty-ideal internalization is a key motive for Chinese women to consider undergoing cosmetic surgery (Wu, Alleva, et al, 2022; Wu, Mulkens, et al, 2022), and Chinese women are taught to view physical attractiveness as “capital” that can be traded for socioeconomic resources (e.g., Wen, 2013; Wu, Mulkens, et al, 2022). To illustrate, within marriage and job markets, prettier Chinese women tend to have a greater chance of marrying a successful man in terms of social status and financial capability (Wen, 2013; Wu, Mulkens, et al, 2022); in the workplace, beautiful Chinese women enjoy benefits in recruitment and promotion (e.g., Niu, Liu, & Hirudayaraj, 2021), and beauty is often listed as a requirement in formal job advertisements (Niu, Baker, et al, 2021). Social media are also powerful channels that promote beauty-ideal internalization and cosmetic surgery among Chinese women (e.g., Wen, 2021; Wu, Mulkens, et al, 2022) and globally (Bonell et al, 2021)—particularly via exposure to cosmetic surgery advertisements and vicarious cosmetic surgery (e.g., seeing peers or celebrities who have undergone cosmetic surgery).…”

The impact of lookism on employment decisions: evidence from China

“…Therefore, lookism is widely accepted in the Chinese workplace. It is normal to see appearance requirements in Chinese job advertisements such as “age,” “good image” and “height” (Niu et al. , 2021a, p. 5).…”

Say no to the knife!

“…In line with objectification theory (Fredrickson & Roberts, 1997), having an attractive appearance is particularly important for women; when it comes to intra-sexual competition for a finite number of opportunities (e.g., job seeking, partner selection), appearance may become a tool to compete for desirability (e.g., Mafra et al, 2020;Wang et al, 2020). In the workplace, beautiful women usually enjoy benefits in recruitment and promotion (e.g., Niu, Liu et al, 2021); meanwhile, it is prevalent to see women's physical appearance being listed as a requirement in formal job advertisements in China (Kuhn et al, 2020;Niu, Baker et al, 2021). This may explain why boosting career confidence is ranked as the top motive for undergoing cosmetic surgery among Chinese women .…”

“…With respect to marriage, prettier women tend to have a greater chance to marry to successful men in terms of social status and financial capability (Wen, 2009;; this may be related to the belief that having beautiful wives could boost men's perceived masculinity and symbolizes their materialistic success and social identity (Chang, 2020). In the workplace, beautiful women usually enjoy benefits in recruitment and promotion (e.g., Niu, Liu et al, 2021); meanwhile, women's physical beauty is often listed as a requirement in formal job advertisements (Kuhn et al, 2020;Niu, Baker et al, 2021). This may explain why boosting career confidence is the top motive for undergoing cosmetic surgery .…”