Did you know that there is a lot of fascinating research on how our hair color shapes the way that others observe us? And that includes bloth private and professional areas. 

The following article tries to find out more about that phenomenon, looking behind the common clichés and stereotypes. 

Do blondes really have more fun and opportunities in life? 

Before opening this article it has to be said that there is no formal definition of beauty in the world. It has never been and it will never exist. As the cliché goes: Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. 

There is no systematic outline for what is beautiful and attractive and what is not. Regardless, every generation builds its own beauty ideal, perfectly promoted by the media, presented in glossy magazines and celebrated on the catwalks of the big fashion shows. If we want or not, these images have an influence on our general perception and how we see others and how we (consiously or not) evaluate their appearance. 

The hype for blonde surely started with Marilyn Monroe in the early 50s. With her the clichés began to pop up all over the world: blonde blonde is better, blondes have more fun etc. 

Since Marilyn we have always found this notion of blonde superiority which is strongly pushed to the front line of popular perception. 

The scientific point of view on blondes 

It seems that blonder women have more confidence. This at least is one of the surprising results of a study carried out by Mr. Mark Sergeant at the Nottingham Trend University. The approach was pretty simple: he asked aournd 200 women how they felt before and after dyeing their hair. 'The blondes were prepared to ask for things they wouldn't normally be confident enough to ask for,' Sergeant reported. 

I would sign that. It sounds ridiculous, but since I dyed my hair blonde I have gained much more attention and got especially good feedback. It is logical that a constantly given positive response makes you more confident in the long term. Thus, from that perspective as a blonde I definitely have more fun! 

Researchers also say that blonde is the most desirable hair color among women and - yes - blondes are usually perceived as more bubbly and open (thus, the ones who have more fun). With regards to job opportunities, the Business Insider reported that: 

'Blonde women earn $870 more on average than brunettes and redheads.'

Wow! Seems that I did really well in dying my hair though...

But the research of 3,000 professional women also found out that although blondes were earning better salaries it emerged the majority of them didn´t think they were taken seriously at work. 

That reminds me a quote of Pam Anderson: 

'It is great to be blonde.
With low expectation, it´s very easy to surprise people.'

What have researchers found out about brunettes?

While blondes are perceived as the ones full of spirits, brunettes are seen as intelligent and professional. 

Women with brown hair tend to be rated higher for attractiveness than blondes. 

Brunettes are also assumed to be more capable and intelligent, having better chances to get hired for a certain job position over women with other hair colors. On the flip side, brunettes are also seen to be more arrogant, which could be the result of their relatively lower self-esteem (compared with blondes - see confidence-theory above). 

Surveys also show that brunettes are considered to be better in their profession, have better grades in school and more successful careers as well as they are generally considered to be smarter when it comes to making financial decisions. 

What about red hair? 

Red colored women are rather seen as successful and temperamental and - fitting with the no. 1 cliché - they are thought to be fiery.  

When researchers analyzed the hair colors of 500 CEOs, the results showed that a considerably high percentage of them had red hair. 

The University of Tennessee and Dalton State College in the USA analyzed the hair color of 500 Chief Executive Officers of the London Financial Times Stock Exchange (FTSE) top 500 companies by market capitalization. 

5% of the CEOs had blonde hair and 4% red hair. Considering that within the United Kingdom´s population, around 25% are blonde and only 1% are redheads, the researchers concluded that blondes, who are perceived traditionally as incompetent but likeable, were significantly under-represented in leading positions. On the contrary the ones with red hair, who are normally a minority group, were over-selected to run some of the most succesful companies. 

It seems that the popular perception of hair colors follows certain psychological patterns. Stereotypes and beauty ideals which are created by the media underline these tendencies. According to research, physical appearance even matters when it comes to assign professional responsibilities. In my opinion it is helpful to know about the existence of these patterns and what we are able to provoke with a certain appearance. In the end our look is like the first shot, and there is no second chance for the very first impression. And yes, maybe I really have more fun being blonde. But... in my opinion the world is much more than just superficiality, and what really matters and will succeed in the long term (both in business and in private life) is character. 

I hope you enjoyed the read and would take delight in reading some comments.

Cheers and see you on Monday! I´ll be off for some days, surfing a nice South-West winter swell which is about to arrive and...
having some fun being blonde :-)
Marly - 

 

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Picture sources:
Title: http://cliqueimg.com
Cover girl: https://wearabout.files.wordpress.com/
Brown hair: http://s2.favim.com/
Red hair: http://www.modelsforest.com/
Audrey Hepburn: https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/