The Relationship between Physical Attractiveness of Professors and Students' Ratings of Professor Quality

Abstract

The present study contributes to the literature on physical attractiveness of professor and student evaluations by exploring attractiveness as a continuous variable. To do so, the website www.ratemyprofessors.com was utilized. The purposes of the present study were to determine if: (a) the student’s perceptions of physical attractiveness (i.e., the number of hot ratings) were significantly correlated with professor ratings of quality and (b) the level of attractiveness (i.e., the percentage of hot ratings) was significantly correlated with professor ratings of quality. Results indicated that professor attractiveness was correlated with professor’s overall quality, helpfulness, and clarity in the classroom.