New publications
Psychologists: A person's leadership skills are associated with their height
Last reviewed: 30.06.2025
All iLive content is medically reviewed or fact checked to ensure as much factual accuracy as possible.
We have strict sourcing guidelines and only link to reputable media sites, academic research institutions and, whenever possible, medically peer reviewed studies. Note that the numbers in parentheses ([1], [2], etc.) are clickable links to these studies.
If you feel that any of our content is inaccurate, out-of-date, or otherwise questionable, please select it and press Ctrl + Enter.
American psychologists claim that a person's leadership qualities are associated with his height - the taller the politician, the greater his chances of being elected.
On the results of the article published in the journal Social Science Quarterly. Based on their findings, American psychologists suggest that Republican Mitt Romney, who is 188 centimeters tall, will become the favorite in the presidential race in the United States.
"Our study and other studies on this topic show that all people on our planet, regardless of culture or upbringing, trust tall leaders more than average or short ones. For example, Barack Obama, who is 6'1", beat John McCain, who was 5'1", in the election. In 2012, Obama will most likely lose to the Republican candidate, Mitt Romney, who is 6'1", - said one of the authors of the work Greg Murray from the Texas Tech University in Lubbock (USA).
Murray and his colleague David Schmitz from the Texas Tech University in Lubbock (USA) discovered the “cave” roots of political leadership by studying the image of a typical leader in literature and in the collective imagination of students from American universities. In most drawings, stories and early written works of modern aboriginal and ancient peoples, chiefs, divine figures and other leaders were taller than ordinary people. The authors of the article then tried to “read” the collective image of a modern leader using a survey they conducted among 460 students from American universities. The survey showed that the leader was taller than the average person in 64% of cases.
The scientists tested the political aspirations of the students themselves - they asked them to assess their own leadership qualities and readiness to go into politics. It turned out that tall people considered themselves good leaders and were more likely to take the reins of power into their own hands than people of average and short stature. "Culture and environmental conditions cannot explain the fact that people from different civilizations and cultures have always preferred tall leaders. This is true for many peoples - from the Mayans to the ancient Greeks," Schmitz explained. The researchers believe that this irrational feature of modern politics can be easily explained by relying on modern ideas about the evolution of human psychology.
[