What Weight Signals

To increase her salary by the same amount, an obese woman can lose 65 pounds or get a master’s degree.

For women, weight matters more than for men.

Weight and Wealth

Especially for women, looking at France and Italy, you can see a correlation between less weight and more wealth:

We can wonder though if weight will continue to matter. The difference now is that everyone can be thin. The weight-loss drugs we can take just need to continue descending in price.

Economists point out, though, that the health benefits of the new drugs could be offset by a more rigid standard of beauty. That standard has led to professional prejudice. In one experiment, where applicants were required to submit a photo, the heavier cohort had fewer job interviews. In another study, researchers concluded that women with obese BMIs earn 10% less than their thinner “sisters.” Similarly, in South Korea, being overweight boosted male income. By contrast, South Korean women suffered financially from extra pounds.

Behavioral scientists suggest that we associate discipline with thinner people. However, it does depend on where and when. During the Renaissance, a voluptuous woman was the desirable norm. Then, with the Industrial Revolution, cheaper food changed our diets. When we could eat too much more easily, remaining thin became more desirable. Summarizing in one paper, researchers noted that “obese individuals face employer and customer discrimination.” They also told us that body shape can diminish self-esteem which in turn affects wages. And then finally, we can return to health which, if poor because of obesity, can reduce productivity.

Our Bottom Line: Signals

Perhaps we are just talking about signaling. Defined as the shortcut messages we send, a signal conveys an incentive or instruction. Nobel Laureate Michael Spence described signaling in labor markets. We show a diploma to prove we had the discipline to survive four years of a rigorous educational institution. The learning might not matter. It’s the diploma that sends the signal. Similarly, if a potential employer associates being thin with productivity and self-control, then women send signals with their weight. Again though, with men, studies show that the same assumptions do not exist.

My sources and more: Thanks to The Economist, here and here for inspiring today’s post. But, for the academic perspective, I recommend this paper.