The Link Between Height and Personal Success :: Biology Essays Research Papers

The Link Between Height and Personal Success Your height won't influence what you earn as much as your race or gender, but it may well be significant. In Britain and America, the tallest quarter of the population earns 10% more than the shortest quarter. A white American man averages a 1.8% higher income than his counterpart an inch shorter (1). Economics is not the only area in which taller people win: out of the US's 42 presidents, only eight have been below average height for the time. Most have been significantly taller than the average for white adult males of their eras (2). Tall men are also more likely to be married and have children (3). Outside of normal height differences, people with growth deficiency are much more aware of the role height plays in their lives. A study done through a growth clinic showed that children with growth deficiency are more likely to have social problems. The problems included lower social competance, increased behavior problems, and low self-esteem. Another study found lower rates of employment and marriage when children with growth deficiency grew up (4). One theory of why tall people are more successful is that there is stigma attatched to height, and thus short people are seen as easier to dominate (2). Another theory is that evolutionarily, tall people had an advantage in hunting and such and were thus associated with positive traits (5). Perhaps we still retain this association unconciously. The third theory is that taller people have a better-self image, and this increased confidence makes them more successful (2). A factor that may influence both earnings and height is one's family background. Shorter men tend to come from bigger families with parents who have less education than those of taller men. This shorter height may be a factor of poor childhood nutrition, and parents with less education are more likely to have children who also receive less education and therefore earn less. Family background is not the only influence, though, as shorter men still earn less than taller men from the same background (2). Effects that appear to stem from one's adult height, though, may have a different cause entirely. Participants in one study were asked to report their heights at ages 7,11, 16, and 23. The height that affected one's adult earnings, it turned out, was not the adult height but the 16-year-old height.