Heightism

In business
Some jobs do require or at least favor tall people, including some manual labor jobs, most professional sports, and fashion modeling. U.S. military pilots have to be 64 to 77 inches (160 to 200 cm) tall with a sitting height of 34 to 40 inches (86 to 100 cm).[1] These exceptions noted, in the great majority of cases a person’s height would not seem to have an effect on how well they are able to perform their job. Nevertheless, studies have shown that short people are paid less than taller people, with disparities similar in magnitude to the race and gender gaps.[2][3]

A survey of Fortune 500 CEO height in 2005 revealed that they were on average 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) tall, which is approximately 2–3 inches (5.1–7.6 cm) taller than the average American man. 30% were 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) tall or more; in comparison only 3.9% of the overall United States population is of this height.[4] Similar surveys have uncovered that less than 3% of CEOs were below 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m) or taller than 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) in height. Ninety percent of CEOs are of above average height.[5]

Others believe that height has a significant independent impact on economic success, pointing to specific instances of height-based discrimination.[6] Surveys of attitudes do reveal that people both perceive and treat people of shorter stature as inferior,[7] and that economic differentials exist which may be the result of height discrimination.[8] The relationship between height, cognitive ability, and discrimination based on height remains a subject of debate.

[edit] Intelligence
Main article: Height and intelligence
Certain epidemiological studies have shown that there is a slight, but statistically significant positive correlation between intelligence and height in human populations. However, intelligence is believed to be influenced by many different factors and a wide range of intelligence levels can be observed in individuals at any given height.

[edit] In politics
Taller candidates have the advantage in electoral politics, at least in the United States where statistics are available for study. Other countries may be different, such as Russia, where President Dmitry Medvedev is 5 ft 5.5 in (1.66 m) and former president Vladimir Putin is 5 ft 7.5 in (1.71 m). France's President Nicolas Sarkozy is 5 ft 6.5 in (1.69 m). Of the 43 U.S. Presidents, only five have been more than 1 inch (2.5 cm) below average height. Quantitative studies of U.S. Senators and Governors have shown that they are on average several inches taller than the U.S. population at large.[9] During the 2004 election, some anti-Bush artwork and political cartoons depicted him as much shorter than he actually stood[citation needed], favoring the taller Kerry.

Non-electoral politics are more difficult to study, as outcomes based on height are more difficult to quantify. Nevertheless, a number of powerful dictators have been below average height. Examples include Engelbert Dollfuss (4 ft 11 in or 1.50 m), Deng Xiaoping (5 ft 0 in or 1.52 m), Kim Jong Il (5 ft 3 in or 1.60 m), Nikita Khrushchev (5 ft 3 in or 1.60 m), Francisco Franco (5 ft 4 in or 1.63 m), Joseph Stalin (5 ft 5 in or 1.65 m) and Benito Mussolini (5 ft 6 in or 1.68 m). Contrary to popular impression[citation needed], Napoleon Bonaparte at 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m) and Adolf Hitler at 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) were both within the average height range for their times and places.

In the United Kingdom, the influential Spitting Image satirical television series depicted David Steel as a midget. This was credited with undermining his political career.[10] When the French president Nicolas Sarkozy made a state visit to the UK in March 2008, the British press was uncommonly united in passing comment on the fact that he is a short man and in carrying a closeup photograph showing the sizeable heels on his shoes in contrast to the flat shoes of his taller wife, Carla Bruni.

[edit] Conflict
Heightism is cited as one of the underlying causes of the Rwandan Genocide, in which approximately one million people were killed. It is believed that one of the reasons that political power was conferred to the minority Tutsis by the exiting Belgians was because they were taller and therefore (in the eyes of the Belgians) considered superior and more suited to governance.[11]

[edit] Dating and marriage
Heightism is also a factor in dating preferences. For some people, height is the major factor in sexual attractiveness.

The greater reproductive success of taller men is attested to by studies indicating that taller men are more likely to be married and to have more children, except in societies with severe gender imbalances caused by war.[12][13] Quantitative studies of woman-for-men personal advertisements have shown strong preference for tall men, with a large percentage indicating that a man significantly below average height was unacceptable.[14]

Conversely, studies have shown that women of below average height are more likely to be married and have children than women of above average height. Some reasons which have been suggested for this situation include earlier fertility of shorter women, and that a shorter woman makes her mate feel taller in comparison and therefore more masculine.[15]

It is unclear and debated as to the extent to which such preferences are innate or are the function of a society in which height discrimination impacts on socio-economic status. Certainly, much is always made in newspapers and magazines of celebrity couples with a notable height difference, especially where a man is shorter than his wife (for example, Jamie Cullum, 5 inches (13 cm) shorter at 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) than Sophie Dahl, though the difference is often exaggerated).