title: Strategically Stunning: The Professional Motivations Behind the Lipstick Effect.
abstract: The phenomenon of increased desire for, and use of, appearance-enhancing items during times of economic recession has been termed the lipstick effect The motivation underlying this effect has been attributed to women's desires to enhance their attractiveness to financially stable partners (Hill, Rodeheffer, Griskevicius, Durante, & White, 2012). In the present research, we found evidence for our proposal that during times of economic recession, the heightened economic concern experienced by women translates into increased desire to use appearance-enhancing items to both attract romantic partners and create a favorable impression of themselves in the workplace, as both strategies can help women become secure financially. We also found that women with high economic concern elect to improve their professional appearance more frequently than their romantic attractiveness, which suggests that their motivation to obtain resources through a job dominates their motivation to obtain resources through a partner.
authors.affiliation: Department of Management and Technology, Bocconi University ekaterina.netchaeva@unibocconi.it.
authors.forename: Ekaterina
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Netchaeva
authors.affiliation: Mendoza College of Business, University of Notre Dame.
authors.forename: McKenzie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rees
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001504:Beauty; D003358:Cosmetics; D003468:Cultural Evolution; D057172:Economic Recession / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D005382:Financing, Personal; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009042:Motivation / Q000502:physiology*; D012747:Sexual Partners / Q000523:psychology; D014481:United States / Q000208:ethnology; D017132:Workplace / Q000191:economics / Q000523:psychology*
chemical_list: D003358:Cosmetics
keywords: economic concern; evolutionary theory; lipstick effect