Attractiveness of First Names and Academic Achievement

This archival study was conducted to examine the association of the stereotypical attractiveness of a person's first name with his or her academic performance. Records of 68 students who had completed the 2nd year of a psychology degree at a British metropolitan university were obtained, and their first names were rated for attractiveness. The actual examination and assessed course-work grades for individuals with unattractive names were compared with those of persons whose names were evaluated as average or attractive. Results indicated that individuals with unattractive names performed significantly better than individuals with more attractive names (p = .05), regardless of mode of assessment. The results are interpreted as evidence of the potentially positive impact of evaluatively negative name stereotypes on academic achievement in a natural situation, and as evidence that these stereotypes are internalized.