Date of Award
Spring 5-1-2026
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts (BA)
Department
Economics
First Advisor
Professor Tiwari
Abstract
This thesis examines whether a beauty premium exists in Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) salaries by analyzing the relationship between facial attractiveness and player compensation from 2022 to 2025. While prior economic research shows that more attractive individuals often earn higher wages, it remains unclear whether these effects persist in women’s professional basketball. The WNBA offers a useful setting due to its binding salary cap, standardized contracts, and compressed wage distribution.
Using 435 player-season observations, this study measures attractiveness through AI-generated facial symmetry scores based on standardized roster photos. Salary is defined as the natural logarithm of base pay, and cross-sectional regression models are used with controls for performance, experience, position, and institutional factors. Additional analyses examine salary growth and positional differences.
The results show no consistent evidence of a general beauty premium in WNBA salaries. Although facial symmetry has a weak positive correlation with salary in simple models, the effect disappears after accounting for performance and structural constraints. Compensation is primarily driven by productivity and league rules. However, some nuances emerge: a small significant effect appears in 2025, and attractiveness is positively associated with salary among guards, suggesting visibility may matter. Attractiveness does not predict salary growth over time.
These findings indicate that beauty premiums are context-dependent. In a regulated league like the WNBA, attractiveness does not systematically increase pay. However, future changes, such as expanded salary caps, may create more space for marketability-related traits to influence earnings.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Recommended Citation
Lazzara, Grace, "Game Face: How beauty shapes power, pay and play in the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA)" (2026). Economics Student Theses and Capstone Projects. 192.
https://creativematter.skidmore.edu/econ_studt_schol/192