Short men are the jealous type - March 13, 2008
An international team of researchers appears to have proven the old adage about shorter men being insecure.
The team asked 100 men and 100 women how jealous they were in their relationships and asked another 119 male and 230 female students their responses to someone flirting with their partner.
“Taller men tended to be less jealous when confronted with socially influential, physically dominant, or physically attractive rivals,” the researchers write in a paper in the journal Evolution and Human Behavior. By contrast the least jealous women were of average height.
The story has been getting wide pick up in the media after being originally publicised by New Scientist. Women’s magazine Marie Claire is asking its readers, “Does your man suffer from ‘short man syndrome’?” Currently the poll stands at yes 22%, no 78%.
Original research in the Nature office does not support a height-jealousy axis. One short Nature reporter said: “I’ve had several girlfriends cheat on me and I didn’t really care.”
Comments
Ok, who is that? I have to guess. Are you going to reveal all? (by a tall but female Nature editor).
Posted by: Maxine | March 13, 2008 09:38 PM
I am a tall, male Nature editor. I am tall in three different dimensions - vertically, from front to back, and from side to side. My mother (my MOTHER) thinks I look like an Arab terrorist, whereas former university friends say I look remarkably like Carlos the Jackal. A former colleague thinks I look like an enforcer from the yakuza. I find that authors and referees of both sexes are very nice to me. My wife (who is tall) thinks I'm just cuddly.
Posted by: A Nonymous | March 14, 2008 07:03 PM
As an exceptionally short man, I honestly believe that the insecurities that come with this stature are compounded by the insecurities of short women. Average height women are more comfortable with dating a shorter man than a short woman is in dating a man of shorter height. This puts an already insecure man into a position of even greater insecurity.
Short women, by contrast, can draw upon the confidence of a taller mate...though they are often the most jealous of wives and girlfriends. That isn't being highlighted here.
Posted by: Edward | March 17, 2008 02:23 PM
As another exceptionally short man, my experience supports Edward's. During my dating years, short women rejected my advances with unanimity. Women of average to far-above-average height felt quite differently about the matter.
In the same way, men of average-to-slightly below average height seem somewhat passionate about finding a shorter partner.
Posted by: Michael | March 17, 2008 03:32 PM
I am medium short (5'7") and I find relationships with women to be the only thing I am not insecure about. I am most comfortable around women, though I do not profess to understand them except just a little. Taller, mas macho men and all children cause me the most anxiety. And of course, like everyone else, I just dismiss shorter men as irrelevant.
Posted by: John at the Jersey Shore | March 17, 2008 04:54 PM
I'm a tall straight man. Every short man who has been my friend has gotten angry at me for no good reason and essentially terminated what I had thought was a good friendship.
Yes, it's good to be tall, except on an airplane. And I have to say that I've never been jealous over a woman.
Posted by: Nat | March 17, 2008 05:15 PM
I am 6'1" and always felt very uncomfortable around short men, because anything I say they take it extremely personally and make a huge drama out of it. That's why I doubt Mayor Bloomberg would be a good president, even though he seems most qualified...
Posted by: Krassen | March 17, 2008 10:56 PM
If you are a short man (such as myself), you notice certain things. Taller people seem to be promoted over shorter people, get more money even in the same professions, and are deferred to as the natural leaders in any group of which they are a part. With rare exceptions, the taller man is more often elected to presidential office. I believe I heard that taller people were even found to be more attractive then shorter people. This bias in favor of height may explain why shorter men need to be more intense then their taller compatriots. Unless they actively fight for their day in the sun, they won't have the same success that a taller person achieves by right.
Posted by: William Biazzo | March 18, 2008 07:28 PM