Whether or not a person’s height affects her funniness, there are lots of things that affect a short person just because she is short. For instance, the generalizations about short people often include their inability to perform well at Tall People Things like fashion modeling or picking cherries. And hulking figures are a bonus for things like football.
But there are Short People Activities that require participants to have smaller builds, like horse jockeying or doing the limbo. For athletes like gymnasts or lightweight wrestlers, not only does a person need not have a hulking figure, but the extra height and body mass is rather undesirable.
However, a taller frame, according to this website, is more desirable in the workplace than a shorter one is. Timothy Judge and Daniel Cable conducted an experiment to find the difference in salaries of several tall and short people. Guess what? The shorter people consistently earned less than taller people. On average, a taller person would earn an additional $789 for every inch that made him taller than his shorter counterpart.
On top of that, it’s estimated that “for every inch shorter you are, 5 per cent fewer women will find you [men] attractive.”* How’s that for a short man’s self esteem?
It makes sense that there be an idea that shorter people compensate for lack of height by acting aggressively. (How can short guys be taken seriously otherwise?) This “Napoleon Complex,” as named by psychologist Alfred Adler, explains aggressive behavior in shorter persons; but a study conducted by the English University of Central Lancashire actually disproved this. The Napoleon complex is a fictitious diagnosis.
So even if short people get paid less than tall people, and there are fewer women who want to date short guys, and potbellies look a lot stranger on short people than they do on tall people, short people needn’t be labeled as aggressive because of it.
*Kirby, Terry. "Theory of 'Napoleon complex' is debunked - This Britain, UK - The Independent." The Independent | News | UK and Worldwide News | Newspaper. 29 Mar. 2007. 03 Feb. 2009
Interesting topic. I think this topic just made me feel a little better about myself--seeing that I'm one of the vertically competent people. If compensation according to height continues by the time I make a living in the real world, it's good to know that hopefully I'll make a prettier penny. I'm just joking of course; one shouldn't be paid less or treated with less respect just because they are shorter than others. That is an injustice!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed this blog. It made me feel terrible for short people! There's so many negative sides to a characteristic they posses but played no role in choosing. Genetics can be so unfair sometimes. The Napoleon Complex was thought-provoking and very true! I was a little bit frustrated by this blog because I find myself right in the middle, so I won't be making much extra money for my height but I also probably will never be that good at limbo or horse jockeying. Sigh
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