A recent 2009 study published in
Economics and Human Biology and coauthored by Angus Deaton and Raksha Arora explored the relationship between one's stated height and the following surveyed metrics: (1) Life satisfaction (on a 1-10 scale); (2) binary (yes/no) questions regarding whether on the day prior to the survey, participants had experienced specific feelings and emotions "during a lot of the day." Two of these were positive (enjoyment,
happiness) and five were negatively valenced (physical pain, worry, sadness,
stress, and
anger). The poll also poses a question regarding family income so the authors reported many of the findings in relation to this variable. The collected data is part of the
Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index daily polling. The sample size consisted of 454,065 adults sampled between January 2008 and April 2009.
Unfortunately (and surprisingly so), the authors did not report the statistical significance of their results. Hence, the reader is left to his own devices in interpreting the findings. Here are a few of the key results that struck me as particularly interesting:
(1) Taller individuals reported greater life satisfaction than their shorter counterparts. Every additional inch of height yielded the same increase in life satisfaction as a 3.8% and 4.4% increase in family income for women and men respectively. It is perhaps not surprising that height is a greater determinant of life satisfaction for men given that this is a trait that is desired by women in their prospective male suitors (see my earlier post on this topic here).
(2) Taller individuals reported greater enjoyment and happiness, lesser physical pain and sadness, but much greater levels of stress. The difference between taller and shorter individuals was minimal both for worry and anger (directionally greater for taller individuals in both cases).
It would thus seem that taller people report more positive life satisfaction, as both measured via a global composite scale, as well as via specific sub-components.
I should mention that the authors sought to provide an explanation for the height effect using a "cognitive potential" argument. I found their logic so unconvincing that I shall refrain from reproducing here.
Ciao for now.
Source for Image:
http://www.radialinfo.com/tall-man-and-short-man-shoes.jpg
