Human Ecology Research

The Korean Home Economics Association (대한가정학회)
권호 표지
DOI QR코드

DOI QR Code

Manager-Level Businesswomen's Personal Experiences of Appearance Management and Body Image

직장 여성의 외모 관리에 관한 개인적 경험과 신체 이미지: 관리자급 여성들을 중심으로

  • Yoon-Jung Lee (Department of Home Economics Education, Korea University) ;
  • Goeun Lee (Department of Clothing and Textiles, Chungbuk University) ;
  • Minsun Lee (Department of Clothing, Sangmyung University, Professor)
  • Received : 2022.12.19
  • Accepted : 2023.02.06
  • Published : 2023.02.28
Download PDF
⟨ Previous Next ⟩

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to explore the personal experiences of businesswomen regarding appearance management and their body image. To achieve this, diverse perspectives were employed, including critical, practical, and positive body image perspectives. Interviews were conducted with 17 Korean businesswomen with more than 10 years of work experience. The data were analyzed using a phenomenological approach to understand their lived experiences of appearance management and body image. The participants acknowledged that appearance is important in the workplace - more so for women than for men. They commented that appearance may play an important role in displyaing social attractiveness to strangers, but other elements of social attractiveness such as liveliness or social skills take prominence in established relationships. Businesswomen, particularly those whose professions involve the display of appearance, are more likely to engage in aesthetic labor or the unpaid labor of managing their physical appearance in order to meet expectations at work. In general, however, these women considered appearance management to be a practice of self-care which seems to demonstrate their positive body image. This study has significance in that it strived to understand the subjective, lived experiences of businesswomen, including their thoughts and emotions related to appearance management and body image.

Keywords

Acknowledgement

This research was supported by the College of Education, Korea University Grant in 2021.

References

  1. Anderson, T. L., Grunert, C., Katz, A., & Lovascio, S. (2010). Aesthetic capital: A research review on beauty perks and penalties. Sociology Compass, 4(8), 564-575. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1751-9020.2010.00312.x
  2. Batres, C., & Shiramizu, V. (2022). Examining the "attractiveness halo effect" across cultures. Current Psychology, 55(3), 387. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-022-03575-0
  3. Cha, K. H. (2022, August 4). From requests for personal information to appearance evaluation... Human rights violations Continued in the job search process. Yunhap News. Retrieved from https://www.yna.co.kr/view/AKR20220804053500051
  4. Choi, J. (2017, July 24). With a plastic surgery market worth 5 trillion won, Korea has become a plastic surgery powerhouse. Consumer Appraisals. Retrieved from http://www.iconsumer.or.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=3650
  5. Choi, P., Kwon, K., Seok, J., Jo, M., & Choi, H. (2022, May 30). Diligence Project Episode 4: 'Gender Equal Workplace' that female workers dream of for 5 years and 5 months. Oh My News. Retrieved from http://www.ohmynews.com/NWS_Web/View/at_pg.aspx?CNTN_CD=A0002839148
  6. Connell, C., & Mears, A. (2018). Bourdieu and the body, In T. Medvetz and J. J. Sallaz(Eds), The Oxford handbook of Pierre Bourdieu (online edition) (pp. 561-576). Oxford Academic.
  7. Damhorst, M. L., Miller, K. A., & Michelman, S. O. (1999). The meanings of dress. New York, NY: Fairchild Publications.
  8. Dion, K., Berscheid, E., & Walster, E. (1972). What is beautiful is good. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 24(3), 285-290. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0033731
  9. Hakim, C. (2010). Erotic capital. European Sociological Review, 26(5), 499-518. https://doi.org/10.1093/esr/jcq014
  10. Hakim, C. (2011). Erotic capital: The power of attraction in the boardroom and the bedroom. NY: Basic Books.
  11. Hamermesh, D. S. (2011). Beauty pays: Why attractive people are more successful. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
  12. Haynes, K. (2012). Body beautiful? Gender, identity and the body in professional services firms. Gender, Work & Organization, 19(5), 489-507. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-0432.2011.00583.x
  13. Heilman, M. E., & Stopeck, M. H. (1985). Attractiveness and corporate success: Different causal attributions for male and females. Journal of Applied Psychology, 70(2), 379-388. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.70.2.379
  14. Holla, S., & Kuipers, G. (2015). Aesthetic capital. In L. Hanquinet & M. Savage(Eds.), Routledge international handbook of the sociology of art and culture (pp. 290-303). New York, NY: Routledge.
  15. Hwang, J.-S., & Lee, Y.-J. (2019). A study on the elements composing of the career women's social attractiveness and impression management behavior. Journal of the Korean Society of Costume , 69(7), 34-50. https://doi.org/10.7233/jksc.2019.69.7.034
  16. Im, C. H. (2007). The effects of physical attractiveness on women employees' promotion: The mediating role of self-esteem and interpersonal relations. Korea Management Review, 36(3), 597-621.
  17. Jang, E. (2021). The effects of appearance management behaviors on happiness of workers: Triple mediating effects of body image, appearance satisfaction, and self-esteem (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Hanseo University, Chungnam, Korea.
  18. Jang, E. M. (2022, November 18). The webtoon 'Daegu female workers born in the 1990s' portrayed a "pervasive daily appearance evaluation". News Min. Retrieved from https://www.newsmin.co.kr/news/81022/
  19. Jeon, Y. (2020). Effects of perceived ageism on appearance managing behavior for over middle-aged office workers. Journal of the Korean Society of Costume, 70(5), 30-44. https://doi.org/10.7233/jksc.2020.70.5.030
  20. Jung, J., & Forbes, G. B. (2007). Body dissatisfaction and disordered eating among college women in China, South Korea, and the United States: Contrasting predictions from sociocultural and feminist theories. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 31(4), 381-393. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1471-6402.2007.00387.x
  21. Jung, J., Forbes, G. B., & Lee, Y.-J. (2009). Body dissatisfaction and disordered eating among early adolescents from Korea and the US. Sex Roles, 61, 42-54. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-009-9609-5
  22. Kim, K. H. (2020, November 18). "We consider appearance when hiring," more than half of the companies responded. Chosun Ilbo. Retrieved from https://www.chosun.com/economy/industrycompany/2020/11/18/ADXTHVFJP5DMVK4GVBGAIXIHSI/
  23. Kukkonen, I. (2022). Physical appearance as a form of capital: Key problems and tensions. In Sarpila, O., Kukkonen, I., Pajunen, T. and Aberg, E. (Eds.) Appearance as capital (pp. 23-37). Bingley: Emerald Publishing Limited. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-80043-708-120210002
  24. Lee, B. R. (2018, October 6). Sixty-three percent of the respondents said "I've been criticized for my appearance in the past month.". Kyunghyang Shinmun. Retrieved from https://www.khan.co.kr/national/national-general/article/201810060600145
  25. Lee, N. R., Seo, H. S., & Hwang, H. J. (2022). The effects of appearance management behavior on self-determination of female workers in their 30s through happiness. Journal of Korean Beauty Society, 28(2), 260-270. https://doi.org/10.52660/JKSC.2022.28.2.260
  26. Lee, S. H., Kim, E. S., & Joo, Y. J. (2017). The effect of career women's appearance management behaviors on cosmetics shopping trends & the purchase satisfaction degrees. Journal of the Korean Society of Design Culture, 23(4), 629-641. https://doi.org/10.18208/ksdc.2017.23.4.629
  27. Lee, S. K. (2020, June 12). 43.7% of job seekers "experienced discrimination because of appearance". Joongang Daily. Retrieved from https://www.joongang.co.kr/article/23800103
  28. Lennon, S. J., Johnson, K. K. P., & Rudd, N. A. (2017). Social psychology of dress. New York, NY: Fairchild Publications.
  29. Mears, A., & Connell, C. (2016). The paradoxical value of deviant cases: Toward a gendered theory of display work. Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society, 41(2), 333-359. https://doi.org/10.1086/682922
  30. Mears, A. (2014). Aesthetic labor for the sociologies of work, gender, and beauty. Sociology Compass, 8(12), 1330-1343. https://doi.org/10.1111/soc4.12211
  31. Mears, A. (2015). Girls as elite distinction: The appropriation of bodily capital. Poetics, 53, 22-37. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.poetic.2015.08.004
  32. Neveu, E. (2018). Bourdieu's capital(s). In T. Medvetz & J. J. Sallaz(Eds.), The Oxford handbook of Pierre Bourdieu (pp. 347-374). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  33. Nickson, D., Warhurst, C. & Dutton, E. (2005). The importance of attitude and appearance in the service encounter in retail and hospitality. Managing Service Quality: An International Journal, 15, 195-208. https://doi.org/10.1108/09604520510585370
  34. Pettinger, L. (2004). Brand culture and branded workers: Service work and aesthetic labour in fashion retail. Consumption Markets & Culture, 7(2), 165-184, https://doi.org/10.1080/1025386042000246214
  35. Quach, S., Jebarajakirthy, C. & Thaichon, P. (2017). Aesthetic labor and visible diversity: The role in retailing service encounters. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 38, 34-43. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretconser.2017.05.004
  36. Ruffle, B. J., & Shtudiner, Z. (2015). Are good-looking people more employable? Management Science, 61(8), 1760-1776. https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2014.1927
  37. Shilling, C. (1991). Educating the Body: Physical capital and the production of social inequalities. Sociology, 25(4), 653-672. https://doi.org/10.1177/0038038591025004006
  38. Shin, J.-S., Song, S. H., & Ryoo, K.-M. (2015). Management behavior and appearance satisfaction on interpersonal relationship and job adaptation: Focusing on the five-star hotels in Seoul metropolitan area. International Journal of Tourism and Hospitality Research, 29(11). 59-72.
  39. Statistics Korea. (2021). e-National Index. Retrieved December 15, 2022, from https://kosis.kr/statisticsList/statisticsListIndex.do?menuId=M_01_01&vwcd=MT_ZTITLE&parmTabId=M_01_01&outLink=Y&parentId=D.1;D_6.2;#D_6.2
  40. Statistics Korea. (2018). Korean Statistics Information Service. https://kostat.go.kr/portal/korea/index.action Retrieved January 15, 2023, from https://kosis.kr/statisticsList/statisticsListIndex.do?menuId=M_01_01&vwcd=MT_ZTITLE&parmTabId=M_01_01&outLink=Y&parentId=D.1;D_6.2;#D_6.2
  41. Sung, Y., Park, E.-A, Lee, J. W., Kim, W. (2009). Psychological power of beauty: Focused on gender difference and life-domain difference. The Korean Journal of Consumer and Advertising Psychology, 10(3), 461-488. https://doi.org/10.21074/KJLCAP.2009.10.3.461
  42. Tazzyman, A. (2020). Women's self-presentation and the transition from classroom to workplace. Gender, Work & Organization, 27, 327-346. https://doi.org/10.1111/gwao.12375
  43. Tylka, T. L., & Wood-Barcalow, N. L. (2015). What is and what is not positive body image? Conceptual foundations and construct definition. Body Image, 14, 118-129. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2015.04.001
  44. Vonk, L. (2021). Peer feedback in aesthetic labour: Forms, logics, and responses. Cultural Sociology, 15 (2), 213-232. https://doi.org/10.1177/1749975520962368
  45. Wacquant, L. J. D. (1995). Pugs at work: Bodily capital and bodily labour among professional boxers. Body & Society, 1(1), 65-93. https://doi.org/10.1177/1357034X95001001005
  46. Warhurst, C., Nickson, D., Witz, A., & Cullen, A. M. (2000). Aesthetic labour in interactive service work: Some case study evidence from the 'New' Glasgow. The Service Industries Journal, 20(3), 1-18. https://doi.org/10.1080/02642060000000029
  47. Wolf, N. (2002). The beauty myth: How images of beauty are used against women (Reprint edition). New York, NY: Harper Perennial.
  48. Yoo, H. (2017). Differences in appearance management behavior according to occupational characteristics and demographic characteristics of workers. Journal of the Korean Society of Costume, 67(2), 17-35. https://doi.org/10.7233/jksc.2017.67.2.017
  49. Yoo, H., & Choi, S. (2010). A study on the professional image concept for appearance management in the workplace (part 1). Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles, 34(10), 1742-1753. https://doi.org/10.5850/JKSCT.2010.34.10.1742
  50. Yoo, H., & Choi, S. (2012). A study on the professional image concept for appearance management in the workplace (part 2). Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles, 36(9), 952-965. https://doi.org/10.5850/JKSCT.2012.36.9.952
  51. Yoo, H., & Choi, S. (2014). Influence on achievements on appearance management strategies in workplace. Journal of Korea Design Forum, 42, 405-416.