Abstract
This paper examines the influence of three non‐cognitive personal traits — beauty, personality, and grooming — on the labor market earnings of young adults. It extends the analyses of Hamermesh and Biddle [1994, American Economic Review 84(5): 1174–1194] and others who focus primarily on the effects of beauty on labor market earnings. We find that personality and grooming significantly affect wages, and their inclusion in a model of wage determination reduces somewhat the effects of beauty. We also find some evidence of employer discrimination based on these traits in the setting of wages.
