Kiwi ecologist Simon, 25, says he did not see himself as dominating and going bald was the best thing he ever did. Photo / Supplied
Kiwi ecologist Simon, 25, says he did not see himself as dominating and going bald was the best thing he ever did. Photo / Supplied
Having a bad hair day? At least you have hair.
A University of Otago study has today revealed men with a full head of locks are often preferred as leaders compared to those who are bald.
But one bald male has fired back, saying the study is rubbish and going bald was the best thing that he ever did.
The study showed shaved-headed males being perceived as more dominant and masculine than men with hair, and the study found they "lacked edge during conflict".
There was three parts to the research. The first stage involved 634 randomly selected people being shown photos of 31 men, who had been digitally altered three times so they had full head of hair, a shaved head and naturally occurring baldness.
The participants rated each photo on their perceptions of seven traits; age, leadership, masculinity, dominance, attractiveness, health and intelligence.
In the second study, the same photos were shown to 400 people who were asked to rate the men in the photos in relation to leader preference in time of war, peace, exploration and exploitation.
During the third study the same photos were rated by 423 people on leadership preference in times of war, peace, and general context-free situations.
Lead researcher Dr Nancy Blaker, of the Department of Management, said physical appearance and image was very important to leadership success.
"Baldness is an extremely common phenomenon amongst aging men, thus also affecting many leaders.
"Head shaving is one of the common responses to 'hide' a balding head, which previous research showed increases how dominant a man looks. Looking more dominant can be an asset for leaders, particularly in situations of conflict.
Lead researcher Dr Nancy Blaker, of the Department of Management, said physical appearance and image was very important to leadership success. Photo / Supplied
"We were interested in seeing if a leader's simple decision to shave their head would change how followers perceive them and subsequently endorse them as leader," she said.
The results also found balding men were perceived as older than both other groups of men, and that men with a full head of hair were perceived as healthier and more attractive than both groups of men.
Kiwi ecologist Simon, 25, said he did not see himself as dominating and going bald was the best thing he ever did.
"It's nice to be compared to Paul Fisher. I also feel like gravity is stronger for bald people as it pulls the hair from our head and the Government should compensate us for that."
To men considering going bald, he said embrace it and get rid of that dusty lid.
"It's much better than spending thousands on treatment."
To men who already had shaved heads, he joked that he would say: "Are you my dad?"
Blaker said while the research didn't reveal great results for any bald or balding men it's certainly not all negative.
"I would say that indeed baldness changed people's perceptions, and generally not for the better. However, these effects were also small.
"For instance, the average estimated age of men with a full head of hair was 40.74, shaved heads were estimated at 41.25, and balding men were estimated to be 42.92 years old.
"This means that baldness itself does not add that much in terms of perceived age, two years at best.
"And previous research also showed that balding men were perceived as more socially mature by others – so it's not all bad."
