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How an Employee's Weight Can Affect His or Her Paycheck
Social stereotypes play into the salaries of male and female employees, with thin women earning more than overweight women, and average-weight men earning more than thin men.
Posted 3/ 18 11 at 3:00 PM | News, Management, Health, Human Resources
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When it comes to the salaries of men and women in the workplace, an employee's body weight often determines the size of his or her paycheck, according to a study by the Journal of Applied Psychology entitled "When It Comes to Pay, Do the Thin Win? The Effect of Weight on Pay for Men and Women." The study reinforced stereotypical notions about thin women, and reported that women who weigh significantly less than the group norm earn about $16,000 more a year on average than women who are overweight.However, the study found the opposite to be true for men, with thin men not reaping the benefits that their female counterparts do when it comes to their earning potential. Average-weight men, and even those who are on the overweight side, earn about $8,000 more than their skinny male co-workers, the study found. Over the course of a 25-year career, these figures account for skinny women earning $389,300 more than average-weight women, while skinny men earn $210,925 less than the average male.
The researchers for the study, Timothy A. Judge of the University of Florida and Daniel M. Cable of London Business School, said the findings are a result of subconscious decisions based on entrenched social stereotypes. They cited other studies that show employers and fellow employees subconsciously associate the positive values of self-discipline, thrift and hard work with thin individuals, while obesity signals negative associations that the individual is undisciplined, dishonest and less likely to do productive work.
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Comments (Page 1 of 1)
The very fact that weight is a determining factor in the size of someone's paycheck shows how superficial and shallow the world has become. We are more obsessed with body image and youthful appearances than we are with honesty, loyalty and a good work ethic when it comes to how we judge our coworkers and employees. How pathetic people, how pathetic! The very fact that weight is a determining factor in the size of someone's paycheck shows how superficial and shallow the world has become. We are more obsessed with body image and youthful appearances than we are with honesty, loyalty and a good work ethic when it comes to how we judge our coworkers and employees. How pathetic people, how pathetic! No wonder we have so many incompetent people in high places (including in our government) screwing this nation's industry and reputation up and bankrupting us to boot!
Please stop with all of these foolish studies!! They are the biggest waste of time and resources ever spent. One simply has to look at the richest people in the world to know just how far of base this study is. Bill Gates, Oprah, Trump none of which have the perfect body and are all full of energy, yet according to this article they should all be lazy and unproductive making less than their peers. I'll bet this article was written by some self centered 20 something that has never worked a real job or accomplished anything in life yet.
Skills do NOT have "little" to do with it. They have NOTHING to do with it.
Yes, nothing has changed, except the biases. Now that you can't decline because of gender, ethnicity, or sexual orientation, new targets have been set--those that don't meet the left wing slant of the emaciated non-smoking liberal. Unless you own the business, you are at the whims of those who hire and fire. Skills have little to do with it.
I totally agree with you. This is what a free market system is all about - the businesses that hire the most talented people, regardless of age, race, creed, whatever, who have the best goals in mind and the best plans as how to meet those goals, and who have management teams which best inspire their people to meet or exceed those goals, ultimately end up in the lead.
enough whining. if someone makes more than you, then they are probably better at their job. you may delude yourself into believing is due to your height, weight, hair color, hat size whatever. the facts are that business is about business. if a company lost the talents of a strong performer due to
waist size, they would go down the road to your competition and your business would suffer. so if some company is acting in that manner, the market will sort it out and they will not be around to long.
There is an obesity epidemic in this country, people. Wake up! It has become "ok" as a cultural norm to be fat and overweight. Just look at school pictures, old tv shows or movies from 30 or 40 years ago and see if this isn't true. Get on a treadmill...!
YEA RIGHT, I THINK YOU SHOULD TAKE A LOOK AT GOVERMENT WOMEN WORKERS AND RESERCH THAT.
The fatter I got the smarter I got. Something about sitting around, reading, writing, and researching and thinking about things made me more intelligent, but fatter. If companies want the smart people, they should go with the fat people who can sit for hours working on projects without having to get up and go eat. Their body fat makes them less likely to get hungry faster.