Chances are you've heard about a science-backed theory known as "the beauty premium¹," which posits² that people who are conventionally attractive get more jobs, earn more money, and are generally viewed as more trustworthy, competent, and intelligent than those who are less attractive.

你可能听说过这样一个有科学支撑的理论，即"美貌津贴"。该理论认为与没什么魅力的人相比，那些具有传统魅力的人可以获得更多的工作机会、赚更多的钱、且通常被认为更值得信赖、更有能力、也更聪明。

But a new study published in the Journal of Business and Psychology³ has found that there's more to the beauty premium than meets the eye.

但发表在《商业和心理学杂志》（Journal of Business and Psychology）上的一项新研究发现：颜值并不是最重要的。

Researchers Satoshi Kanazawa from the London School of Economics and Political Science and Mary Still from the University of Massachusetts looked at data from a study of 20,000 Americans who were rated on attractiveness at age 16, and then four more times over the course of 13 years.

来自伦敦政治经济学院的研究员Satoshi Kanazawa和来自马萨诸塞大学的研究员玛丽·斯蒂尔从一项对2万名美国人的研究中获得的数据进行了研究，这些人在他们16岁的时候被评估了吸引力，之后的13年也对他们的吸引力评估了4次。

What the results found was that "very unattractive respondents always earned significantly more than unattractive respondents, sometimes more than average-looking or attractive respondents."

研究结果发现"非常没有魅力的受访者总是比没有魅力的受访者赚得更多，有时候比长相一般或者有魅力的受访者还要赚得多。"

These findings, therefore, implied that there is "very weak evidence for the beauty premium, and it disappeared completely once individual differences, such as health, intelligence, and Big Five personality factors, were statistically⁴ controlled."

因此这些研究结果表明，"美貌津贴的支持理论非常薄弱，一旦个人差异（如健康、智慧和五大性格因素）得到统计控制，美貌津贴将不复存在。"

Not that this means there aren't perks⁵ to being conventionally attractive. If anything, it indicates that people who are better-looking cultivate more of the personality traits that would make them desirable for a role.

但这并不意味着具有传统魅力不会带来福利。如果有的话，这表明长得更好看的人品性也更好，这会让他们更合适某一角色。

"It appears that more beautiful workers earn more, not because they are beautiful, but because they are healthier, more intelligent, and have better (more Conscientious⁶ and Extraverted, and less Neurotic) personality," the study says.

"好像更美的员工工资更高、这不是因为他们长得好看，而是因为他们更健康、更聪慧、且拥有更佳的品性（更认真和外向，没那么神经质），"研究表示。

The study noted⁷ that the "very unattractive" sample size was small, and didn't really explain why people in that category would earn the most.

研究指出"非常没有魅力"的样本人数很少，并没有真正解释为什么属于这一类的人群可能收入最高。

However, Alex Fradera, a staff writer at The British Psychological study, proposed a theory: "Some of the very unattractive scored especially low on Openness, and were perhaps highly devoted⁸ to a specific topic area, pursuing it obsessively⁹ to the exclusion¹⁰ of all distractions¹¹ and eventually entering the forefront of their field."

然而，The British Psychological study的特约撰稿人Alex Fradera提出了一个理论："一些极其没有魅力的人在开放性格上得分很低，但在某一主题领域却得分超高，因为他们会专注追求、排除一切干扰因素，最终跻身领域的前沿。"