Most women and girls who wear make-up feel more physically attractive and this is a known fact. The so-called "lipstick effect" is the feeling of an overall improvement in a woman's self-esteem, attitude and opinion of her personality whenever she wears makeup.
However, until a few years ago, no one had thought to observe the effect of cosmetics on cognitive abilities. In 2016, a team of researchers from Harvard Medical School and the University of Chieti, led by Roço Palumbo, a PhD student in Cognitive Neuroscience, conducted a study.
At the end of the research, they concluded that wearing makeup makes women feel more intelligent. So it can lead to achieving higher test scores and getting better grades.
The group of scientists tested the "lipstick effect" on 182 female students who were divided into groups. First, the participants had to do various tasks that affected their mood.
Some of the ladies had to listen to positive music, others had to color a drawing of a human face, and some had to wear makeup.
Then they were all given a mock multiple-choice test about general psychology.
At the end of the study, the researchers concluded that makeup can lead to better academic performance more than any other mood enhancer.
"Consistent with our predictions, we found a significant effect of make-up on multiple-choice test performance, with scores being significantly higher compared to those obtained after listening to positive music and coloring a face," the researchers told Cogent Psychology.
The cognitive performance of participants who listened to positive music was good. However, the makeup group's results were much better.
However, not all opinions about the effect of lipstick are positive.
In 2012, an economist suggested that the research supporting the theory of the lipstick effect relies on "grossly generalized gender stereotypes".
Source: iheartintelligence
