It pays to be tall

Studies find that tall people make more money and are more productive. As a relatively short guy, I know that tall people usually look better in terms of clothing and tend to be more popular with girls. Also, I know that tall salesman tend to give out a more feeling of authority. However, does really being tall lead to more money and productiveness?

Hmmm…I am not sure. First, let’s remember that height is highly correlated with nutrition, specially infant nutrition. So if you were not fed well, you would not likely be tall and also your brain would not develop as well. So being tall is likely an indicator of health and development.

Second, from my experience, tall children are treated more like adults. For instance, when you see a young tall man, you often hear “You are a grown man now.” And the conversation may be more mature. Instead of talking about play days, the conservation may involve talks about being a responsible adult. Hence, I believe that tall children tend to get treated different and may have an advantage in becoming mature earlier.

To better understand the effect of height, I think we can do an experiment. There will be two conditions, the same person will be either taller or shorter (manipulated by height enhancing shoes) and the participants will rank the person’s competence and other attributes. We can even do a field study, where the same people go try to sell something either with height enhancing shoes or without them. Look forward to future research 😀