Physical attractiveness, drug taking and gender differences

This study investigates the relationship between adolescent physical attractiveness and drug-taking behaviour, emphasizing the human capital and “pretty girl” effects on the decision to use drugs. Through the human capital effect, physically attractive adolescents are better positioned to accumulate human capital at a young age compared to their less attractive peers. Building on the economics and psychology literature, we propose a “pretty girl” effect by suggesting that physically attractive young women or girls are more likely to be approached by men or mature boys who may have access to drugs, and they are thus more likely to take drugs. These two effects imply a gender difference in the impact of adolescent physical attractiveness on drug-taking behaviours. We find a robust gender difference in the effect of adolescent physical attractiveness on both the likelihood of having ever taken drugs and the types of drugs ever taken.