High intrasexual competition is related to inflated height reports in male junior soccer players

Mailhos, Álvaro; Buunk, Abraham P.; Arca, Denise del

doi:10.1016/j.paid.2017.03.030

Cited by 5 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 61 publications

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“…In line with the foregoing, various studies have demonstrated a high intensity of physical intrasexual competition among adolescent men, as apparent in the display of risky behavior (e.g., Ellis et al, 2012 ) and in same-sex peer aggression (e.g., Gallup et al, 2011 ). Recently, Mailhos, Buunk, and del Arca (2017) found in adolescents a positive relationship between intrasexual competitiveness and overreporting one’s height. The authors noted that overestimation of one’s height could be interpreted as an indicator of status and physical dominance.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Intrasexual Competition and Height in Adolescents and Adults

et al. 2018

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Intrasexual competition can be defined as the struggle between members of one sex to increase their access to members of the other sex as sexual partners. In our species, height is a sexually dimorphic trait probably involved in both intrasexual and intersexual selective processes. In the present research, we examined the relationship between height and individual differences in intrasexual competitiveness (i.e., the tendency to view same-sex interactions in general in competitive terms) in two populations of adolescents and adults of both sexes in Chile. According to our first prediction, among both adolescent and adult men, height was negatively associated with intrasexual competitiveness. In contrast, among women, height was not linearly nor quadratically related with intrasexual competitiveness as previously reported. Finally, adolescent men and women showed increased levels of intrasexual competitiveness compared to adult same-sex counterparts. Our results suggest that height is a relevant trait in mating competition among men. The lack of relationship between height and intrasexual competitiveness in women may suggest that the role of height in women mating competition may be more complex and mediated by other variables.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Intrasexual Competition and Height in Adolescents and Adults

et al. 2018

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“…Given this lack of consistent evidence, there is a clear need for more research to establish whether the subjective sense of one’s mate value and attractiveness is related to one’s height. In addition, most research in this area has employed self-reports of height, which may be subject to considerable bias (Mailhos, Buunk, & del Arca, 2017). Therefore, the present study examined in a sample of young couples from Chile whether objectively assessed height was associated with self-perceived mate value and self-perceived attractiveness, and if it was different for men and women.…”

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confidence: 99%

Height as related to self-perceived mate value and attractiveness.

Buunk¹,

Fernández²,

Muñoz-Reyes³

2019

Evolutionary Behavioral Sciences

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A study among 66 couples from Santiago, Chile examined the association between objectively assessed height and self-reports of mate value and attractiveness. In addition, assortative mating for these variables was assessed. There was some evidence for assortative mating: Although there was no correlation between the height of both partners, there were significant correlations for attractiveness and mate value. Men were taller than women, but there was no evidence for the male-taller norm. Among women, mate value and especially attractiveness were higher as they were taller, with a slight dip in mate value among women of medium height. Among men, only attractiveness was higher as they were taller. Discrepancies and similarities with previous research are discussed. Public Significance StatementA study among couples in Chile showed that couples tend to be similar in how attractive they consider themselves to individuals of the opposite sex. Taller men and women considered themselves more attractive than short men and women.

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“…In contrast to earlier biological perspectives on human mating that suggested an inconsequential role of body size in marriage selection (Galton, 1886; see Stulp, Simons, Grasman, & Pollet, ), the current state of the art suggests the opposite—an important role of human height in self‐presentation (Mailhos, Buunk, & del Arca, ), self‐assessed mate value (Buunk, Fernandez, & Muñoz‐Reyes, ; Griffiths, Murray, Medeiros, & Blashill, ), attractiveness ratings and partner preferences (Shepperd & Strathman, ; Sorokowski et al, ; Stulp et al, 2013b; Yancey & Emerson, ; Valentova, Bártová, Štěrbová, & Varella, ), and mate choice (Frederick & Jenkins, ; Sohn, ; Stulp, Pollet, Verhulst, & Buunk, ; Tao, ; Tao & Yin, ). These studies indicate that in general, at least in western societies, relatively tall men and women within an average range are typically judged as most attractive by individuals of the opposite‐sex (see also Stulp & Barrett, for review).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 65%

Human height preferences as a function of population size in the Cook Islands and Norway

Sorokowski

Oleszkiewicz

Sorokowska

et al. 2019

American J Hum Biol

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Objectives: Height preferences and mating patterns related to body size vary across cultures yet it remains unclear why such between-population differences exist. Here, we test a hypothesis that nonrandom assortative mating is negative (mating with nonsimilar partners) in small isolated populations, and positive (mating with similar partners) in larger populations. Methods: We compared preferences for sexual dimorphism in stature (SDS, male height/female height) among men and women living in small isolated communities (as few as 60 inhabitants) vs larger urban areas (as many as 70 000 inhabitants). To increase generalizability, data were collected from heterogeneous populations in the South Pacific (Rarotonga vs Palmerston, Cook Islands) and Northern Europe (capital city of Tromsø vs villages in the Troms County of Norway).Results: Norwegians preferred a significantly larger difference in height between partners (median SDS ratio of 1.14) than did Cook Islanders (median SDS ratios of 1-1.04). Indeed, while 30% of Cook Island men and women preferred a partner of the exact same height, this preference was observed among less than 3% of Norwegian men and 7% of Norwegian women. Critically, distributions in SDS preferences did not differ by sex or population size. Thus, rural and urban dwellers within both countries showed similar positive assortative preferences for height, wherein own height explained up to 62% of the variability in preferred partner height. Conclusions:Our results do not support negative assortative preferences in small-scale communities, and further indicate that the "male-taller norm," while weaker among Cook Islanders than Europeans, is observed to some extent in the South Pacific.

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High intrasexual competition is related to inflated height reports in male junior soccer players

Cited by 5 publications

References 61 publications

Intrasexual Competition and Height in Adolescents and Adults

Intrasexual Competition and Height in Adolescents and Adults

Height as related to self-perceived mate value and attractiveness.

Human height preferences as a function of population size in the Cook Islands and Norway

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