They did a study where they showed photographs of men to women along with their incomes printed below the photo, and asked the women to rate the attractiveness of each man on a 1-10 scale. The higher-income men had higher average ratings than the low-income men.
Then they switched the numbers on the cards. Guess what? Somehow, the same photos that were previously associated with low income, suddenly scored much higher in average attractiveness than the other set of photos (which now scored much lower).
So to answer your question, for men at least, the answer is definitely yes.
From my experience, status symbols have a distorting affect. Growing up, the more well-to-do girls didn’t have the big asymmetrical hairstyles that the working class girls wore. To my middle-class sensibilities, the big asymmetrical hairstyles were hideous. I thought they were garish and ugly. I recall overhearing teachers clucking their tongues about them as well. But obviously they were attractive to someone, because they were popular and it wasn’t like the girls who had them didn’t have beaus. So perhaps they were unattractive only because they were the marker of a stimatized socioeconomic class.
The same with gold teeth and certain clothing styles.
But yeah, I think it’s self-evident that richer people will tend to have the disposable income and time to maintain their physical appearance. In particular I’ve noticed that professional older women (60+) spend an inordinate amount of money on jewelry, cosmetic surgery, shoes and clothes (including tailoring), and hair/nail styling. They tend to look very nice. It’s how they can still “stay in the game” in their particular professions. In contrast, women living on their Social Security pensions tend not to look as sharp in their applique sweaters and orthopaedic shoes. Being unemployed and on a limited income means they tend to be more sedentary, which also has ruinous impact on one’s looks. When you’ve got money, there’s a constellation of factors that keep you active and motivated to keep up appearances.
And just to clarify: I think your argument as that these rich guys can pick hot chicks, which can then- in the kids- help mellow dad’s ugly genes out a bit.
So, well, yup. How much is thanks to better diet, better medical care, clothes that make you look better and work habits that are less damaging remains to be seen or debated.
