In a study involving hypothetical job applicants, those candidates described as being «underdogs» — i.e., they were unlikely to get a particular job due to unfair
circumstances beyond their control (e.g., their application had been
misplaced by a secretary)-- were rated as especially physically attractive and desirable to date compared to candidates who were (a) unfairly advantaged (i.e., had a friend pressuring the employer to hire them) or (b) were unlikely to get the job due to their own incompetence (i.e., they failed to follow directions on the job application).