Estella Jung

February 26, 2015

Honors 221B 12:30

Height and Relationship Success: The Higher Mate Value of Taller Men

Brewer and Riley (2009) sought to find an answer to the question of whether tall men are
more satisfied with their relationship, less prone to jealousy, and whether their heights are related to
the use of mate retention behaviors. This is an intriguing topic because male height is a good
indicator of mate quality and health and tall men are perceived as more dominant and assertive than
shorter men (Melamed, 1992). From an evolutionary perspective it would make sense for females to
seek mates who are healthy and can pass down good genes to their offspring. Because taller men are
genetic advantaged, the risk for females with shorter males to engage in extra pair copulations with
taller males to produce higher quality offspring increases. The possibility of female desertion is
greater for short males, which might account for the jealousy. The researchers portray jealousy as a
negative feeling that can reduce cuckoldry and promote love by showing that the male cares and is
committed.
Brewer and Riley studied 98 study participants who were all heterosexual men ages 19 72
from the local community. All of the participants were in a romantic relationship at the time of the
study and their heights ranged from 155cm to 196cm with a mean of 178.4cm. Participants were
given a questionnaire with self-reported answers of their age, height, and relationship satisfaction on
a 7-point Likert scale. The subjects were also asked to complete a 24-item Multidimensional Jealousy
Scale (which assessed cognitive, emotional and behavioral jealousy each consisting of 8-items),
and a Mate Retention Inventory consisting of 38 items. The items had questions asking about what
the individuals would do in certain situations in their relationship such as: How often do you call X
to see if he/she is there?
The researchers hypothesis is that the potential threat to reproductive success experienced by
short men would lead to greater suspicion (cognitive jealousy), efforts to minimize the threat
(behavioral jealousy), and reaction to events that may be a threat to the relationship (emotional
jealousy). The researchers also predicted that taller men would be more satisfied with their
relationship than shorter men due to their attractive genes and greater ability to attain mates.

Furthermore, the researchers anticipated lower mate retention behaviors in tall men because they
have a smaller chance of being deserted by a mate, which reduces the need to deter potential rivals.
Upon performing regression analyses on the study results and examining the linear and
quadratic relationships between the male heights and relationship satisfaction and various jealousy
factors, Brewer and Riley determined that taller men showed higher levels of relationship satisfaction
(Figure 1), lower levels of cognitive jealousy (Figure 2), and lower levels of behavioral jealousy
(Figure 3). The results indicated that male height is associated with relationship satisfaction and
cognitive and behavioral jealousy. But the results for height in relation to emotional jealousy and
overall mate retention were not significant (Figure 4). A reason shorter men may not have engaged in
competitive and aggressive behaviors with their rivals may be because they are less fit than their tall,
attractive competitors. Jealous cognitions and behaviors may be less advantageous for tall men
because their risk of cuckoldry and desertion is lower and they have a greater likelihood of attaining
mates.
The limitation to this study was self-reported answers. Self-reported height allows the
possibility of individuals inflating their height, and self-reported information about the males
relationships may not be as valuable as a more detailed account of the relationship history. Other
limitations were the sample size being relatively small and the study being conducted in one local
community, which causes a deficiency in geographic representation. A study that can be conducted
in the future is a replication of this study with a greater sample size and conducting the study in poor
and wealthy regions of the same city, replacing the height factor with income. My hypothesis is that
there will be greater relationship satisfaction, less jealousy, and less mate retention among wealthier
males than poorer males. If my hypothesis is correct, wealthier males would have greater relationship
satisfaction, and would report less jealousy and mate retention. If my hypothesis is incorrect,
wealthier males would report equal or worse relationship satisfaction, and equal or more jealousy and
mate retention than poorer males.

Figure 1

Figure 1. The linear and quadratic relationships revealed by the regression analysis show that there is a positive
correlation between a mans height and relationship satisfaction.

Figure 2

Figure 2. The linear and quadratic relationships revealed by the regression analysis show that there is a negative
correlation between mens height and cognitive jealousy.

Figure 3

Figure 3. The linear and quadratic relationships revealed by the regression analysis show that there is a negative
correlation between mens height and behavioral jealousy.

Figure 4

Figure 4. The table shows the linear and quadratic relationships between height and relationship satisfaction,
jealousy and mate retention. The results are significant for relationship satisfaction, cognitive jealousy, and
behavioral jealousy but not for emotional jealousy and mate retention.

Work Cited
Brewer, Gayle and Charlene Riley. Height, Relationship Satisfaction, Jealousy, and Mate
Retention. Epjournal 7.3 (2009): 477-89. Web. 26 Feb. 2015.