Are Blondes Really Dumb?

Jay Zagorsky

Economics Bulletin, 2016, vol. 36, issue 1, 401-410

Abstract: Discrimination based on appearance has serious economic consequences. Women with blonde hair are often considered beautiful, but dumb, which is a potentially harmful stereotype since many employers seek intelligent workers. Using the NLSY79, a large nationally representative survey tracking young baby boomers, this research analyzes the IQ of white women and men according to hair color. Blonde women have a higher mean IQ than women with brown, red and black hair. Blondes are more likely classified as geniuses and less likely to have extremely low IQ than women with other hair colors, suggesting the dumb blonde stereotype is a myth.

Keywords: Discrimination; intelligence; hair color; blonde; brunette; beauty; wages; AFQT; IQ (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D1 J7 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016-03-17
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