Sad News For the Vertically Challenged: Tall Men Are Happier And Richer, Study Says

Discoblog
By Boonsri Dickinson
Sep 10, 2009 12:39 AMJul 19, 2023 6:25 PM

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So size does matter: Taller men are happier than shorter men. They’re also blessed with fewer worries and don’t get as sad or angry. If this upsets you, don’t blame the messenger: These results are based on a study out of Princeton University published in the journal of Economics and Human Biology. Angus Deaton, a professor of economics and international affairs, interviewed 454,000 people on the phone and asked them to judge their life on a scale of one to ten, with one being the "worst possible life for you" and ten the "best possible life for you." Wouldn’t you know it, the researchers also noted each person’s height. Based on the Cantril Self-Anchoring Striving Scale, the team found that the taller respondents were happier, more educated, and richer. BBC reports:

Men who were above average height 5ft 10in (177.8cm) reported that they were standing higher on the ladder than men who were below average height. They had an average ladder score of 6.55 compared to the shorter men who scored 6.41. Women scored higher overall than men on the ladder scale and there was less difference between the taller and shorter women.

But psychologist Colin Gill makes a good point: While "there does appear to be a correlation between height and happiness and height and income," being rich won’t make you happy on its own. It’s more complicated than that. Plus, the people who were happiest weren’t necessarily the tallest. So there's that. Related Content: Discoblog: Short People's Senses Faster Than Tall People's

Image: flickr/ netsoftdesign

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