Some men get the short hand of the height stick, but when it comes to marriage they may fare better. New research found that shorter men marry later in life, but have longer lasting marriages compared to their tall counterparts.
The research from sociologists at NYU reveals that short men marry lower-educated, younger women and earn more income while in a relationship. This could be interpreted as short men 'making up' for what they physically lack. Tall men get married earlier to older, more-educated women, usually someone of their own race.
"This further confirms an existence of height-based status exchange in which short men compensate for their lower physical status with higher proportional earnings, while tall men appear more likely to use their status to attract women with higher relative earnings," the researchers write.
The researchers explain the trend with the association of height with attractiveness, masculinity and status. The research suggests that "this indicates that the tallest men exchange their attractive attribute (height) for better-educated spouses, while short men are unable to do so."
Previous research from the University of Sydney and the Australian National University in Canberra found that tall men make more money than their counterparts. "Perhaps this has to do with status, having greater respect for taller people that might be inadvertently leading to higher wages," says economist and study author Andrew Leigh. "Perhaps it is because of discrimination - shorter people getting the same treatment in the labour market as women and minorities have experienced in the past."
An extra inch in height could be worth $1,000 more in wages a year, but researchers are torn whether this is because of taller people are seen as being more attractive, or the extra height signals health.
Researchers at NYU found that while they marry at lower rates, short men stay married longer. The rate of divorce among short men is significantly less than men who are tall and average height.
Short men are 269 percent more likely to marry someone the same height and 1,450 percent more likely to marry someone taller than men who are average height.
The model that compares height, marriage and money is undoubtedly oversimplified, but nonetheless, provides an interesting layer to the dialogue of how we interpret and react to masculinity.
