Research completed by Martha and Spencer Love School of Business economic professors Tina Das and Steve DeLoach has been featured in the Harvard Business Review, Wall Street Journal and The AM Law Daily this summer.
The publications cite findings from the professors’ paper, “Mirror, Mirror on the Wall: The Effect of Time Spent Grooming on Wages.”
From the Harvard Business Review:
“For women, an increase in personal grooming time is associated with lower earnings; for example, if a nonminority woman doubles her daily grooming from 45 minutes to 90 minutes, her earnings drop an average of 3.4%, say Jayoti Das and Stephen B. De Loach of Elon University. Men differ significantly by race: Grooming has no effect on nonminority men’s earnings, but for minority men, a doubling of daily grooming from 40 minutes to 80 minutes yields a nearly 4% increase in average earnings. The researchers say grooming signals social identity, and while it has adverse consequences for highly groomed women, it may counter negative stereotypes of minority men.”