The Role of Self-regulatory and Psychological Flexibility as Coping Strategies to Deal with the Nebulous Stresses of Lookism

Abstract

This article attempts to understand the early-career stresses of lookism by examining its dual expressions in the form of the ‘beautiful is good’ and ‘beauty is beastly’ effects. Additionally, it explores how individuals develop adaptive coping strategies that flexibly respond to appearance-based pressures in the workplace. To do so, this article addresses the following research question: How do early-career professionals manage the psychological and professional challenges of lookism through adaptive coping strategies? 28 semi-structured interviews were conducted, and the transcripts were subjected to extensive thematic narrative analysis following the coding process ensconced by Ricoeur’s theory of interpretation. The findings highlighted that individuals were generally in favour of utilizing self-regulatory flexibility to defy the effects of lookism in their surroundings and incorporating psychological flexibility to respond more effectively to such encounters while at work. Based on these findings, this article proposes a framework that captures the nebulous stresses of lookism and presents the case of diffusion of existing societal beliefs plus implicit preferences into workplaces. Subsequently, it advances both belief-based and preference-based discrimination theory by validating the role of flexibility-based coping responses to deal with the ensuing challenges. From a managerial standpoint, the findings underscore the need for organizations to address lookism through training, inclusive culture-building and support systems in the form of mentoring networks plus employee resource groups. Finally, the article contributes to qualitative methodological novelty of personal narratives by presenting them as potent tools for research on the construct of lookism in the organizational context.