Tall claims? Sense and nonsense about the importance of height of US presidents

Stulp, Gert; Buunk, Abraham P.; Verhulst, Simon; Pollet, Thomas V.

doi:10.1016/j.leaqua.2012.09.002

Cited by 116 publications

(72 citation statements)

References 44 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Successful political candidates in modern democracies tend to be physically dominant in terms of height (Ellis 1994; Stulp et al 2013) and more masculine in terms of their facial and vocal characteristics (Little et al 2007; Tigue et al 2012). The advantage of physical dominance in winning elections in modern nation states is at first glance irrational.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Leaders are often taller, stronger, or display more dominant behavior than their peers, whether in large-scale, democratic societies (Lord et al 1986; Stulp et al 2013) or small-scale societies such as the Xavante (Maybury-Lewis 1967) and Mekranoti of Brazil (Werner 1982), where warriorship was a traditional pathway to leadership. However, tall or physically strong leaders are not necessarily chosen for their physical dominance per se, particularly in small-scale, egalitarian societies where authoritarian behavior leads to censure, ostracism, or even execution (Boehm 1999).…”

Section: What Traits Are Preferred In Leaders?mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Leadership in an Egalitarian Society

Rueden

Gurven

Kaplan

et al. 2014

Hum Nat

164

177

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Leadership is instrumental to resolution of collective action dilemmas, particularly in large, heterogeneous groups. Less is known about the characteristics or effectiveness of leadership in small-scale, homogeneous, and relatively egalitarian societies, in which humans have spent most of our existence. Among Tsimane’ forager-horticulturalists of Bolivia, we (1) assess traits of elected leaders under experimental and naturalistic conditions and (2) test whether leaders impact collective action outcomes. We find that elected leaders are physically strong and have more kin and other exchange partners. Their ranks on physical dominance, kin support, and trustworthiness predict how well their groups perform, but only where group members have a history of collaborative interaction. Leaders do not take more of the spoils. We discuss why physically strong leaders can be compatible with egalitarianism, and we suggest that leaders in egalitarian societies may be more motivated by maintaining an altruistic reputation than by short-term rewards of collective action.

show abstract

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: What Traits Are Preferred In Leaders?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Leadership in an Egalitarian Society

Rueden

Gurven

Kaplan

et al. 2014

Hum Nat

164

177

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Multiple studies have documented the desirability of tallness for males, associating height with reproductive success (16 - 18), physical strength (19), dominance (20), attractiveness and dating preferences (21 - 23), workplace success and higher income (24 - 26), as well as choice and evaluation of political leaders (27). Pressures for male tallness have been persistent over at least the last century, with height-related economic and social advantages for men evident in a study from 1915 (28).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How Short is Too Short According to Parents of Primary Care Patients

et al. 2014

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Objective Height is a physical trait on a continuum. The threshold between normal and abnormal is arbitrarily set, potentially influencing medical decision-making. We sought to examine parents’ perceptions of adult heights and associated demographic factors. Methods Parents of pediatric primary care patients of various heights completed a one-time survey. Parents answered, “How short is too short?” for adult males and females. Results were summarized as median [interquartile range]. Factors significantly associated with height threshold by simple linear regression were included in a multivariable mixed effects analysis of covariance model. Results 1820 surveys were completed (83% response rate; 1587 female, 231 male). Median threshold height deemed too short for adult females was 56 inches [48, 59] among male respondents and 57 inches [50, 60] among female (p<.05). Median threshold height for adult males was 61 inches among males [60, 64] and females [59, 66] (p<.05). The median of male minus female heights per respondent (delta heights) was 5 [2, 7] inches. Factors found to be significant main effects in a parsimonious model were sex of adult considered, height of respondent, sex of respondent, respondent race, primary care practice, income and having concerns about their child's height. Conclusion Taller acceptable height thresholds were perceived by respondents who were taller, wealthier, white, female, from non-urban practices or who had a personal concern about their child's height. Male heights were expected to be taller than female. Such traits may influence who is concerned and more likely to seek medical treatment for their children.

show abstract

“…Accordingly, height impacts ratings of leader behavior. Indeed, Stulp, Buunk, Verhulst, and Pollet (2013) report that taller U.S. presidents are consistently judged as better leaders with better communication skills and higher performance than their shorter counterparts. Therefore, it seems plausible that height may function as a retrieval cue that triggers the accessibility of the leader prototype, which inflates ratings of behaviors typically associated with the word "leader.…”

Section: )mentioning

confidence: 99%

Reconsidering the accuracy of follower leadership ratings

Hansbrough

Lord

Schyns

2015

The Leadership Quarterly

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

(2015) 'Reconsidering the accuracy of follower leadership ratings.', Leadership quarterly., 26 (2). pp. 220-237. Further information on publisher's website:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua. 2014.11.006 Publisher's copyright statement: NOTICE: this is the author's version of a work that was accepted for publication in The Leadership Quarterly. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A denitive version was subsequently published in The Leadership Quarterly, 26, 2, April 2015, 10.1016/j.leaqua.2014 Additional information: Use policyThe full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that:• a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in DRO • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders.Please consult the full DRO policy for further details. AbstractAccurate behavioral measurement is essential to developing a science of leadership, yet accurate measurement has remained elusive. The use of follower reports of leader behavior creates challenges given that a large body of basic and applied research suggests that behavioral ratings reflect not only recall of actual behaviors, but also inferences based on semantic memory, which may vary among individuals. In this paper, we examine several explanations for rater effects that are associated with follower individual differences, contextual factors, and even research methods, such as the type of measure used, that may bias ratings of leader behavior. We also develop a conceptual model to illustrate these processes. Finally, we offer potential solutions to increase accuracy in follower reports of leader behavior. ACCURACY OF FOLLOWER LEADERSHIP RATINGS 3The leadership field relies heavily on follower ratings of leader behavior both in research settings to test leadership theories and in applied settings for leadership development purposes (e.g., 360-degree feedback). Given that leadership reflects a dynamic interaction between leaders and followers (Riggio, Chaleff, & Lipman-Blumen, 2008;Shamir, Pillai, Bligh, & Uhl-Bien, 2006), follower ratings provide an important source of data. Indeed, Shamir (2007) describes followers as "co-producers of leadership." However, reliance on follower ratings of leader behavior as a key measure of leadership processes, or even as the sole measure, creates significant challenges. In particular, followers become important contributors to the processes they are used to measure, raising both the issue of accuracy of leader ratings and the potential for biases in ratings processes that are associ...

show abstract

Tall claims? Sense and nonsense about the importance of height of US presidents

Cited by 116 publications

References 44 publications

Leadership in an Egalitarian Society

Leadership in an Egalitarian Society

How Short is Too Short According to Parents of Primary Care Patients

Reconsidering the accuracy of follower leadership ratings

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About