Anderson Investigates: Beauty Bias Hidden Camera Experiment
On today's show, Anderson explores how good-looking people are sometimes treated better than everyone else, calling it a type of "beauty bias."
The show set up a hidden camera experiment and followed two women, Joanna and Nicole, who both had a flat tire on the side of the road. Who gets more attention and help with fixing the flat? The results might surprise you. See what happens.
Biological anthropologist reveals there is a biological reason why people are attracted to beauty, telling Anderson, "The brain is built to try to pick the healthiest partner to raise your babies and send your DNA on to tomorrow. So we have this natural response for certain proportions of the body, so it's those bodily proportions that are particularly important."
Dr. Fisher also explains, "I've put people in brain scans and studied the brain circuitry of the brain reward system for pleasure, and when you look at a pretty face or a handsome face, those parts of the brain become active and dopamine begins to spread over the brain… and you feel better."
Aesthetic surgeon Dr. Haideh Hirmand adds, "It starts very early in life. There are studies that have shown that babies have visual preferences for beautiful pictures, beautiful objects and people."
Anderson also introduced Tori, who faced weight discrimination when she was shopping, and said a woman employee at a "major retailer" told her, "We have nothing for you here." Tori recalls she was "dumbfounded" and couldn't respond, but says if that happened to her now, she would definitely say something.
Dr. Helen Fisher says there are ways to beat this "beauty bias," and offers some simple tips...
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