The Impact of Physical Attractiveness, Gender, and Teaching Philosophy on Teacher Evaluations

Abstract

This study explored the impact of teachers’ physical appearance and teaching philosophy on other persons’ perceptions of their competence. Secondary-level student teachers were given photographs of attractive and unattractive teachers of both genders. Each photograph was attached to a written statement about teaching, describing the teachers’ instructional approach as either authoritarian or humanistic. We did not find any main effects of attractiveness or gender upon perceptions of competence. These findings contradicted the results of some previous studies in which the only basis for evaluation was a photograph. A significant interaction occurred between attractiveness, gender, and authoritarianism. The attractive female authoritarian teacher was rated significantly less negatively than the other three types of authoritarian teachers. We hypothesized that she may have been less credible as an authoritarian figure and was consequently spared some of the negativity directed toward the others.