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- Title
Affirmative Action for a Face only a Mother Could Love.
- Authors
Crow, Stephen M.; Payne, Dinah
- Abstract
Physical attractiveness is highly valued in our society and impacts a variety of decisions made by organizations. Generally speaking, research findings suggest that the more attractive the person, the greater the likelihood of favorable employment-related decisions. It follows then, that those considered physically unattractive will suffer adversely in some employment-related decisional contexts -- decisions that may prevent them from achieving the good life. Until recently, discrimination against unattractive people has been considered nothing more than a moral or ethical issue. However, with the introduction of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990, attractiveness as an employment-related criteria may become a legal issue. In this essay, we propose that the history of social and legal trends, coupled with uncertainties and ambiguities within the ADA, represents a possible expansion of protection for physically unattractive people.
- Subjects
UNITED States; EMPLOYMENT discrimination; APPEARANCE discrimination; EMPLOYMENT of people with disabilities; BUSINESS ethics; SOCIAL aspects of decision making; AFFIRMATIVE action programs; PROFESSIONAL ethics; EMPLOYMENT practices; AMERICANS with Disabilities Act of 1990; ETHICAL decision making; EMPLOYEE selection; EMPLOYEE selection laws; EMPLOYMENT of people with disabilities -- Law &; legislation; ETHICS
- Publication
Journal of Business Ethics, 1992, Vol 11, Issue 11, p869
- ISSN
0167-4544
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1007/BF00872366