Beautiful female bosses considered ‘less truthful, trustworthy’

New research carried out at Washington State University

Attractive women bosses are considered less truthful and trustworthy by both sexes, according to new research, Mail Online reported.

In tests, hundreds of male and female participants thought a pretty female boss was less likely to be honest.

They were also considered more deserving of being fired than a less attractive counterpart.

Good looks are often thought to be advantageous in life, whether when it comes to getting served in shops or pubs or being more likely to succeed at a job interview, and even the likelihood you are found guilty in court.

But when it comes to the most senior roles, however, attractive women were considered to be more deceitful.

It seems that any woman who shatters the glass ceiling is perceived to have used underhand methods to get there, the research suggests.

Researchers from Washington State University and others dubbed the distrust of the attractive female boss "the Femme Fatale syndrome."

The authors suggest that a beautiful female boss will have to work hard to convince people that she rather than looks alone or through "ingratiation, manipulation or seduction."

The idea that there is prejudice against female bosses is not new.

But this has been explained in the past on the idea that women "aren't fitting" in a traditional masculine role as a boss.

The latest study rejects this explanation and, based on a series of experiments, suggests the distrust is motivated by deep-seated sexual insecurity and jealousy.

Leah Sheppard, lead author of the paper, said: "Highly attractive women can be perceived as dangerous and that matters when we are assessing things like how much we trust them and whether we believe that what they are saying is truthful. It becomes more nuanced when we look at gender."