Posted on 08/25/2006 4:30:35 PM PDT by presidio9
While researchers have long shown that tall people earn more than their shorter counterparts, it's not only social discrimination that accounts for this inequality -- tall people are just smarter than their height-challenged peers, a new study finds.
"As early as age three -- before schooling has had a chance to play a role -- and throughout childhood, taller children perform significantly better on cognitive tests," wrote Anne Case and Christina Paxson of Princeton University in a paper published by the National Bureau of Economic Research.
The findings were based primarily on two British studies that followed children born in 1958 and 1970, respectively, through adulthood and a U.S. study on height and occupational choice.
Other studies have pointed to low self-esteem, better health that accompanies greater height, and social discrimination as culprits for lower pay for shorter people.
But researchers Case and Paxson believe the height advantage in the job world is more than just a question of image.
"As adults, taller individuals are more likely to select into higher paying occupations that require more advanced verbal and numerical skills and greater intelligence, for which they earn handsome returns," they wrote.
For both men and women in the United States and the United Kingdom, a height advantage of four inches equated with a 10 percent increase in wages on average.
But the researchers said the differences in performance crop up long before the tall people enter the job force. Prenatal care and the time between birth and the age of 3 are critical periods for determining future cognitive ability and height.
"The speed of growth is more rapid during this period than at any other during the life course, and nutritional needs are greatest at this point," the researchers wrote.
The research confirms previous studies that show that early nutrition is an important predictor of intelligence and height.
"Prenatal care and prenatal nutrition are just incredibly important, even more so than we already knew," Case said in an interview.
Since the study's data only included populations in the United Kingdom and the United States, the findings could not be applied to other regions, Case said.
And how tall are the researchers?
They are both about 5 feet 8 inches tall, well above the average height of 5 feet 4 inches for American women.
A copy of the paper can be found at http://papers.nber.org/papers/w12466.pdf.
THANK YOU for the pic and the ping!
Brilliant comment. I'll bet you're tall.
Bah, I'm an inch shorter than you, bannie, and I'm not worried :)
Good things come in small packages, you know ;-)
Found an interesting article on tall people and power. I can't think of any reason why a taller person would be smarter than another though.
Workplace rewards tall people with money, respect, UF study shows
The average height of Americans today is 69.1 inches – about 5 feet 9 inches – for men and 63.7 inches – nearly 5 feet 4 inches – for women.
It has been more than 100 years since U.S. voters chose a president who was shorter than the average man, Judge said. Elected in 1896, President William McKinley, at 5 feet 7 inches, was ridiculed in the press as a "little boy," he said.
Don't think this has anything to do with being taller equaling more intelligence, but rather that a taller person may have more self-confidence and more leadership ability.
OTOH, some tall people are so self-conscious that they keep themselves at the bottom of the success ladder.
Thanks for that. I have an inch and a half on him.
UMMM>..
malnutrition causes growth lag. and malnutrition causes brain growth lag.
Ergo, good nutrition increases both height and IQ
When we were in Africa, the schools supplemented free lunches to kids. So the kids who went to school were not only taller but smarter.
I thought so. And I shall print this out so I can frequently remind Mr. Fairview, who is a few inches shorter than I am. (heh heh heh, rubbing hands together in gleeful anticipation)
Dubya is 5' 11-3/4" -- not as tall as F'ing at 6'4" but not short by any definition.
Us short people's revenge ;)
A short height is easier on your heart than tall.
Short people are more energy-efficient!
It takes less natural resources to sustain us, to clothe us, to house us...and we maintain souls as large as those in the more fuel-consuming models.
;-)
Harry Nilsson had a song about that very subject, "J**** C***** you're tall, I bet nobody wanted to dance with you at all..." actually a humorous song like Randy Newman's "Short People".
5' 11 and 3/4"s? You mean I actually have something in common with the president besides dashing good looks?
That 1/4" makes a big difference I s'pose ;)
Actually, just about anything sized to fit the masses is a little inconvenient for someone over 6". (I'm 6'2")
Anything from cars & trucks, seat on planes, trains & automobiles, some chairs, mattresses smaller than queen size, some ATM displays, fuel island gas card readers; the height of sinks, countertops, drinking fountains, doorknobs, stair risers, and the list goes on.
I work with a guy, and have had friends who are, in the 6'6" to 6'9" range, and overhead obstacles become a problem for them that those of us under 6'5" don't even notice. I feel sorry for them when they smack their foreheads into things. That, and dealing with the long-term negative health effects of the thinner air at that altitude. :-)
Combined.
Yeah, but I bet he was still smarter than you.
I'd love to see how this so-called "study" was conducted. Most studies are a piece of crap. I recently read one which purported to show that cats can't taste sweet. Turns out that this "study" was conducted on a grand total of 19 cats, all located in Australia. (The Australian cat population is already known to be different from the felis domesticus population at large, since it is descended from a very small original pool of cats. Most Australian cats don't get high from catnip, lacking the gene that allows about 85% of the rest of the world's cat population to do so.)
I think it's fair to say that good nutrition early on maximizes any young human's innate abilities. But to make a blanket statement that taller people are smarter is pretty silly. My husband (at 5'9") and I (at 5'4") are right at the national average, and we're both members of Mensa -- which puts us in the top two percent of the population, in terms of measurable I.Q.
Sounds to me like these two tall gals had an axe to grind. Shorter people are cuter. Everyone knows that. :)
Junk science - and utter bunk.
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