Heightism vs discrimination
The Times reports on heightism:Short men get short shrift: repeated surveys have found that the taller the man, the higher his likely salary and promotion prospects. It’s certainly true that taller men earn more - this paper (pdf) estimates that each inch of stature adds 1.7% to a man’s earnings. However, this is not - or at least not entirely - because employers discriminate against stumpies. The same paper finds that half the premium comes because tall men are better educated. This is because height is associated with good childhood health and hence success at school. And, it says, another chunk of the height premium comes from tall men being more likely to work in well-paying occupations or industries. Controlling for education, industry and occupation, each inch of height brings in only 0.4 per cent better earnings. Which suggests that pure discrimination against smurfs is, well, small. Danish research based on Department of Health figures showed that shorter Britons reported worse physical and mental health than their “normal” sized counterparts.However, a new paper (pdf) by Angus Deaton has found that shortarses’ worse mental health is largely due to their worse education and earnings. He says:There is good evidence that cognitive and physical function develop together, so that children who do not reach their potential heights also do not develop their full cognitive potential. It is this lack of full cognitive development that accounts for lower levels of education, and lower earnings in adulthood which, in turn, are almost entirely responsible for lower levels of life evaluation, and poorer emotional outcomes.The Times continues:Perhaps most woundingly of all, taller women tend not to countenance shorter men as potential romantic partners: the French National Institute for Statistics and Economic Studies found that men who are 6ft tall or above are 50 per cent more likely to be married or in a long-term relationship than men under 5ft 5in or below.But this is only to be expected - and not just because high incomes increase the chances of a man beig married. Height is a powerful predictor of being good in bed - as is baldness, heterochromia and left-handedness. But more research is needed on this subject.