The Right Look: Why Conservative Politicians Are Rated More Attractive

A study by sociologist Ulrich Rosar of the University of Düsseldorf, evaluated by the German mainstream weekly newspaper, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung (FAS), concludes that conservative and liberal politicians are more frequently perceived as more attractive than their left-wing counterparts.

For the study, people in several countries were shown thousands of photos of politicians they didn’t know. Researchers then compared these ratings with election results and party convention data. According to the findings, more attractive candidates received more votes, had fewer opponents, required fewer rounds of voting, and were more frequently nominated in promising constituencies. An Ifo study from 2023 also concluded that good-looking politicians earn higher additional income. In parliament, they are more likely to attain prestigious leadership positions and are more likely to be perceived as courageous when they deviate from the party line.

Voters also more frequently associate physical attractiveness with intelligence, creativity, honesty, authenticity, trustworthiness, and competence. Attractive politicians are more likely to be forgiven for their mistakes and receive more support and attention during crises. The Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung (FAS) writes: “Disadvantages based on skin color, gender, or sexual orientation are often discussed. But ugliness remains taboo.”

The fast track for the attractive starts early: pretty children more often have friends and better grades, and as adults earn more and are promoted more frequently. And there’s  another important correlation: those who see themselves as winners are more likely to perceive society as fair and are more inclined to support conservative or liberal parties.

Differences also exist between the parties. In the European Parliament, conservatives were rated as 25 percent more attractive than social democrats, in Australia the gap was 32 percent, in Finland 41 percent and in the USA 14 percent.

Panu Poutvaara of the Ifo Center for Migration and Development Economics even considers it possible that conservative voters infer political convictions from appearance. More attractive, unknown candidates were more frequently categorized as right-wing in tests. Even left-wing voters preferred attractive candidates: “In our study, we found that left-wing voters also preferred better-looking candidates, even though they had a greater ideological distance from them.”

A Scandinavian analysis of the American National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health reached a similar conclusion. People who rated themselves as attractive were more likely to identify as conservative.