Ugly people more likely to be criminals!

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"We find that unattractive individuals commit more crime in comparison to average-looking ones, and very attractive individuals commit less crime in comparison to those who are average-looking," claim Naci Mocan of the University of Colorado and Erdal Tekin of Georgia State University.

Mocan and Tekin analyzed data from a federally sponsored survey of 15,000 high-schoolers who were interviewed in 1994 and again in 1996 and 2002. One question asked interviewers to rate the physical appearance of the student on a five-point scale ranging from "very attractive" to "very unattractive."

These economists found that the long-term consequences of being young and ugly were small but consistent. Cute guys were uniformly less likely than averages would indicate to have committed seven crimes including burglary and selling drugs, while the unhandsome were consistently more likely to have broken the law.

Very attractive high school girls were less likely to commit six of the seven crimes, while those rated unattractive were more likely to have done six of seven, controlling for personal and family characteristics known to be associated with criminal behavior.

Mocan and Tekin aren't sure why criminals tend to be ugly.

(These two also cowrote a paper on Catholic schools and bad behavior.)

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 17 February 2006 15:57 (nineteen years ago)

Ah, I've found the article itself -- Ugly Criminals.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 17 February 2006 15:59 (nineteen years ago)

gotta get to robbing that bank, then...

― Lenny and Squiggy Present Lenny and the Squigtones (Jody Beth Rosen), Friday, 17 February 2006 16:02 (nineteen years ago)

Using data from three waves of Add Health we find that being very attractive reduces a young adult's (ages 18-26) propensity for criminal activity and being unattractive increases it for a number of crimes, ranging from burglary to selling drugs. A variety of tests demonstrate that this result is not because beauty is acting as a proxy for socio-economic status. Being very attractive is also positively associated adult vocabulary test scores, which suggests the possibility that beauty may have an impact on human capital formation. We demonstrate that, especially for females, holding constant current beauty, high school beauty (pre-labor market beauty) has a separate impact on crime, and that high school beauty is correlated with variables that gauge various aspects of high school experience, such as GPA, suspension or having being expelled from school, and problems with teachers. These results suggest two handicaps faced by unattractive individuals. First, a labor market penalty provides a direct incentive for unattractive individuals toward criminal activity. Second, the level of beauty in high school has an effect on criminal propensity 7-8 years later, which seems to be due to the impact of the level of beauty in high school on human capital formation, although this second avenue seems to be effective for females only.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 17 February 2006 16:02 (nineteen years ago)

3... 2... 1...

Sorry, just counting down until this thread gets nasty.

― Boris and the Johnsons (kate), Friday, 17 February 2006 16:03 (nineteen years ago)

PRE-LABOR MARKET BEAUTY

― Lenny and Squiggy Present Lenny and the Squigtones (Jody Beth Rosen), Friday, 17 February 2006 16:03 (nineteen years ago)

That's a good way to help it along, yes. xpost

― Allyzay Rofflesberger (allyzay), Friday, 17 February 2006 16:03 (nineteen years ago)

Pretty does as pretty is, my mama allus said

― TOMBOT, Friday, 17 February 2006 16:03 (nineteen years ago)

Wait, so they're determining "ugly" and "attractive" based on some federal workers' opinions of high-school students? Now that's scientific.

― Miss Misery xox (MissMiseryTX), Friday, 17 February 2006 16:05 (nineteen years ago)

That's funny, Tom, cos my dad always said "beauty is only skin deep, but ugliness goes all the way to the bone." I think he was kidding.

― Laurel (Laurel), Friday, 17 February 2006 16:08 (nineteen years ago)

Didn't everybody already know this? Seriously.

― TOMBOT, Friday, 17 February 2006 16:09 (nineteen years ago)

yeah, i'd like to see the scientific criteria for a "cute guy" (and why isn't the female equivalent a "cute girl" but a "very attractive high school girl" ?)

― AleXTC (AleXTC), Friday, 17 February 2006 16:11 (nineteen years ago)

what about "la beauté du mal" then ?

― AleXTC (AleXTC), Friday, 17 February 2006 16:12 (nineteen years ago)

ugly people more likely to not get laid

― cutty (mcutt), Friday, 17 February 2006 16:12 (nineteen years ago)

More like beautiful people allowed to get away with stuff...(xpost)

― suzy (suzy), Friday, 17 February 2006 16:13 (nineteen years ago)

Laurel I was making a joke by flipping the saying backwards

anyway
http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/P/0300102496.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

― TOMBOT, Friday, 17 February 2006 16:13 (nineteen years ago)

http://www.animationartgallery.com/images/KOT/KOTHC2.gif

― Huk-L (Huk-L), Friday, 17 February 2006 16:16 (nineteen years ago)

I've never been convicted of a crime ever. Ergo, I am the most attractive person in the world. QED.

― tissp! (the impossible shortest specia), Friday, 17 February 2006 16:17 (nineteen years ago)

"Never been convicted" makes it sound like you've had some pretty close calls though.

― James Ward (jamesmichaelward), Friday, 17 February 2006 16:19 (nineteen years ago)

Laurel I was making a joke by flipping the saying backwards

I'm sure you'll be shocked to hear that I wasn't being completely serious either.

― Laurel (Laurel), Friday, 17 February 2006 16:22 (nineteen years ago)

I am shocked by everything

― TOMBOT, Friday, 17 February 2006 16:28 (nineteen years ago)

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y155/rgin/89-moonwalker08.jpg

― Jimmy Mod: The Prettiest Flower In The Pond (The Famous Jimmy Mod), Friday, 17 February 2006 16:32 (nineteen years ago)

Cesare Lombroso to thread...

― Ned T.RIfle II (Ned T.Rifle II), Friday, 17 February 2006 16:46 (nineteen years ago)

http://www.griseldaonline.it/foto/03_2rodler.jpg

― Ned T.RIfle II (Ned T.Rifle II), Friday, 17 February 2006 16:47 (nineteen years ago)

I would like to see a similar study except wiht attractiveness rated by facial symmetry rather than subjective rating.

― Dan I. (Dan I.), Friday, 17 February 2006 17:04 (nineteen years ago)

All "attractiveness" is subjective.

― patrick bateman (mickeygraft), Friday, 17 February 2006 17:07 (nineteen years ago)

it's not too hard to fit physical irregularity into a sort've Moffitt early-onset antisocial behavior model.

― Dan I. (Dan I.), Friday, 17 February 2006 17:07 (nineteen years ago)

So that's that settled, you can leave your wallet open around me with no worries, folks

― Dadaismus (Dada), Friday, 17 February 2006 17:09 (nineteen years ago)

http://www.beniciodeltoro.com/images/films/suspects/suspects11.jpg

― TOMBOT, Friday, 17 February 2006 17:11 (nineteen years ago)

pre-natal or obstetric complications could probably help account for both vertical asymmetry and abnormal limbic system functioning, or whatever. I mean, not entirely, obviously.

― Dan I. (Dan I.), Friday, 17 February 2006 17:12 (nineteen years ago)

(which still leaves the big elephant in the room ignored)

― Dan I. (Dan I.), Friday, 17 February 2006 17:13 (nineteen years ago)

A typical criminal:

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/41309000/jpg/_41309464_efit203.jpg

― Alba (Alba), Friday, 17 February 2006 17:15 (nineteen years ago)

Ha ha, I've been searching for that photo for ages!

― Dadaismus (Dada), Friday, 17 February 2006 17:19 (nineteen years ago)

ah. great job from the police !
reminds me of all this films in which they're trying to draw a picture of the suspect and it ends up like a child's draw...

― AleXTC (AleXTC), Friday, 17 February 2006 17:20 (nineteen years ago)

http://photos8.flickr.com/10180188_b56ef7d76b.jpg

― melton mowbray (adr), Friday, 17 February 2006 17:58 (nineteen years ago)

Peppers proves this right. End thread.

― Alan Conceicao (Alan Conceicao), Friday, 17 February 2006 17:59 (nineteen years ago)

Counter-thesis:

http://www.rotten.com/library/bio/crime/serial-killers/ted-bundy/bundy_corduroy.jpg

― phil d. (Phil D.), Friday, 17 February 2006 18:16 (nineteen years ago)

bundy's handsomeness was sort of on a relative scale for his peer group, though. like "small-town high school pretty" or whatever.

― gear (gear), Friday, 17 February 2006 18:38 (nineteen years ago)

I'm looking at Ted Bundy's hair and imagining him with a jheri curl.

― Alan Conceicao (Alan Conceicao), Friday, 17 February 2006 18:43 (nineteen years ago)

My ex-boss, currently doing 12+ years. (Dumbass would already be out of prison if he'd accepted the state's plea deal.)

― pixel farmer (Rock Hardy), Friday, 17 February 2006 21:11 (nineteen years ago)

Was it ... mail theft?

― Alba (Alba), Friday, 17 February 2006 21:12 (nineteen years ago)

16 felony convictions on charges including grand theft, embezzlement and forgery.

― pixel farmer (Rock Hardy), Friday, 17 February 2006 21:16 (nineteen years ago)

hahaha for a second I thought you were referring to yourself??? I was like SAVAGE, man, that's fucking rugged and then I remembered. I'm having a bad day.

― Allyzay Rofflesberger (allyzay), Friday, 17 February 2006 21:26 (nineteen years ago)

Nah, there's nothing savage or rugged about that twat. Unless he managed to stick all that money in coffee cans in his back yard.

― pixel farmer (Rock Hardy), Friday, 17 February 2006 21:41 (nineteen years ago)

Ugly people are just more likely to get caught, because their faces are easier to remember.

― josh in sf (stfu kthx), Friday, 17 February 2006 23:23 (nineteen years ago)

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/graphics/packageart/mugshots/noltemug.jpg

― josh in sf (stfu kthx), Saturday, 18 February 2006 01:56 (nineteen years ago)

That British artist's rendering has me in HYSTERICS

― Dan (Best Story Ever) Perry (Dan Perry), Tuesday, 21 February 2006 20:43 (nineteen years ago)

What in God's name is that thing that ADR posted?

― Erick Dampier is better than Shaq (miloaukerman), Tuesday, 21 February 2006 21:02 (nineteen years ago)

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