Size Matters: Tall People Make More Money
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FacebookAccording to a recent study out of Australia that was published in The Economic Record, taller men earn more money than their shorter brethren. In fact, a two inch height difference corresponds to an average income difference of nearly $1000/year.
The reason for the height effect remains unknown, but it’s been suggested that being tall boosts self-confidence, thereby making people more successful. Interestingly, while the authors initially set out to test whether or not overweight people are paid less, there was no corresponding effect of body mass index (BMI) on earning power.
Source: The Economic Times
Published on July 15th, 2009 - 11 Comments
Filed under: Working
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About the author: Nickel is the founder and editor-in-chief of this site. He's a thirty-something family man who has been writing about personal finance since 2005, and guess what? He's on Twitter!
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11 Responses to “Size Matters: Tall People Make More Money”
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July 15th, 2009 at 1:37 pm
Ha! So do left handed men, social drinkers, married people, and those who work more hours! It’s a crazy world.
July 15th, 2009 at 1:42 pm
Can I use this as support when I go ask for a raise?
(I’m 6′7″ … so … that’s like, $10k!)
July 15th, 2009 at 1:45 pm
The VP of my division seems to be bucking this rule. I’m 5′9″, and he’s clearly shorter than I am. I’m sure that he makes a lot more money than me. One company that I worked for in the past had a shorter-than-average group of executives. When they would pass our cubicle on the way to the conference room, my buddy would sing “heigh ho, heigh ho” under his breath. Very low. They may have lacked height, but not power.
July 15th, 2009 at 1:52 pm
I would take this study much like many with a grain of salt. After reading “7 habits of highly effectiive people,” I can tell you that it’s all about the attitude and interaction.
July 15th, 2009 at 2:06 pm
Napolean aside (yes, there are always exceptions…), height is connected to perceptions of leadership. Take a look at the last dozen or so Presidential races, particularly in the television era when the public sees the candidates standing up next to each other. Ike was taller than Stevenson. JFK was taller than Nixon. LBJ was taller than Goldwater. Nixon was taller than Humphrey. Reagan was taller than Carter. Reagan was taller than Mondale. Bush 41 is taller than Dukakis. Clinton is taller than Bush 41. Clinton is taller than Dole. Obama is taller than McCain. See the trend?
July 15th, 2009 at 2:12 pm
Thank god I am tall! I have not seen the more money yet though.
July 15th, 2009 at 3:23 pm
Well, I’m boned.
July 16th, 2009 at 1:57 am
Height matters, but I think looks matter even more!
Rgds,
RB
July 18th, 2009 at 5:18 am
Aah … beg to differ; while it may be true for how much you earn at work, our ‘Napoleonic Complexes’ make us shorties much more likely to be successful where it counts: in business and investing.
Take it from two short multi-millionaire Aussies: I’m 5′4″ and my even richer buddy is not much bigger …
July 19th, 2009 at 7:52 pm
I read about this somewhere the other day. A study was done from interviews done with recruiters from a few big name companies. The result was that they do, in fact, look for taller, healthier looking prospects. Very discriminatory, but unfortunately there’s nothing to do about it.
July 20th, 2009 at 10:20 am
I vote with the looks paying off– I have worked with people who could be models . . . and they are dumber than a bag of rocks, but “somehow” they got the job!