Does Height Influence Attractiveness and Dating Preferences?

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Height plays a significant role in perceptions of attractiveness and dating dynamics, especially for men. Many women express a preference for taller partners, often citing a height cut-off around 6 feet. This preference may stem from societal norms that associate height with confidence and masculinity. However, some discussions reveal that personality traits, such as confidence and sociability, can outweigh height in attracting partners. While shorter men may face challenges in dating, they can still find success through charisma and social skills. Anecdotal evidence suggests that men who are relaxed and self-assured often attract partners regardless of their height. The conversation also touches on how personal experiences and family backgrounds influence height preferences, with some women gravitating towards taller men if they come from tall families. Ultimately, while height is a factor in attraction for many, it is not the sole determinant of relationship success, as personality and connection play crucial roles.
  • #31
My girlfriend is about a half inch or so shorter than me, I'm around 5'11". I feel like it'd be awkward if we were different heights, in either direction.
 
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  • #32
Evo said:
5'7" is ok, up to 6'4, any taller and I'm staring into their belt buckle.

Good! I'm 5'7". :wink:
(Which is rather short for a man where I live.)
 
  • #33
Evo said:
There was a study published in the journal Nature, their conclusion was that women tend to prefer taller men.

http://www.webmd.com/sex-relationships/news/20000112/women-tall-men

This study is odd for many reasons:

The researchers found that men without children are on average three cm. (1.2 inches) shorter than those with at least one child. The mean height of the men in this study was about 5 feet 6 inches. Dunbar says that unusually tall or short men were not included in the study because that may "reflect some pathological condition which may in turn have fertility consequences."

5'6" is not generally considered average, but short. If it's taken as the average, what, exactly, is the height at which men are found not to have fathered children? 4'10"?

Are Polish people that much shorter than other Europeans? If they are, it's the first I've heard of it.

Also, the study assumes without investigation that if a man has fathered a child his height was a factor in attracting the mother. We could probably take all the data from this study and use it to get to completely different conclusions: "Study shows men who have fathered children are less concerned about using birth control". Or: "Study shows men who have fathered children match the bell curve for height in any country". The latter because they say they threw out data, not just on the shortest men, but also on the tallest men. Being inordinately short or tall, they say, might indicate some pathology that affects fertility. It sounds, therefore, like there was a drop off in fathering kids at both sides of the bell curve, and what the study actually shows is that being too far outside the mean is what hurts your chances.

Setting the mean at 5'6" makes you wonder where the tall extreme was set. 6 feet? I think it's a very odd study.
 
  • #34
zoobyshoe said:
This study is odd for many reasons:

5'6" is not generally considered average, but short.
You doubt the validity of a paper published in Nature? I've been told that anything published in Nature was absolutely correct and only a crackpot would question them. :rolleyes: Yes, I was the one saying Nature was guilty of publishing biased studies. :-p Nothing is above bias, especially among a group of individuals, that being in the same field might know each other and share the same opinions. /End rant

Depends on the part of the world, but 5'7" is considered average height for men "worldwide", in western countries, the average is closer to 5'9" to 5'10".

I don't hold much to studies like this, and I think a poll of women would just as easily have corroborated that the majority of women prefer a man that is taller than herself, although being taller doesn't necessarily mean being tall. A man that is 5'4" is taller than me.
 
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  • #35
Evo said:
A man that is 5'4" is taller than me.
My wife is 5'2". Until I ruptured a disk (when a friend dropped his half of my motorcycle which we were loading) I was a solid 5" taller than her. I should have let the bike fall on me and take the bruises and likely cracked ribs instead of wrecking my back. There are plenty of cute shorter women around, though in college I tended to hook up with tall, leggy ones.
 
  • #36
turbo said:
My wife is 5'2". Until I ruptured a disk (when a friend dropped his half of my motorcycle which we were loading) I was a solid 5" taller than her. I should have let the bike fall on me and take the bruises and likely cracked ribs instead of wrecking my back. There are plenty of cute shorter women around, though in college I tended to hook up with tall, leggy ones.

leggy... blondes?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ec_-DYo2XhQ
 
  • #37
Yes height matters a substantial amount. Anything below 5'7'' is a very big problem for a lot of women (I am 5'8'' and this is a big problem). Height stops mattering at about 6'4'' imo in the USA. Many shorter men do very well with women but its absurd to suggest height is not a huge factor.
 
  • #38
I'm 6'1" and I'm a stud
 
  • #39
Height matters to some people and not to others. Simple as that. I can date a woman who was taller than me but my friend can't and he is pretty sure why he can't. When he was younger, girls made fun of him a lot so if he dates a taller woman, there is a dominance that he automatically associates with her because of the trauma during his youth.

Different people, different tastes.
 
  • #40
I am 5' 8" wouldn't consider myself a stud.

I think it really depends on the woman. One of my friends is 5" 8", she likes to be with guys who are taller than here or as tall as her. I think it would look weird if a guy was dating some chick who was 4" 5" taller than him. You would always have to look up to her, literally!
 
  • #41
deluks917 said:
Yes height matters a substantial amount. Anything below 5'7'' is a very big problem for a lot of women (I am 5'8'' and this is a big problem). Height stops mattering at about 6'4'' imo in the USA. Many shorter men do very well with women but its absurd to suggest height is not a huge factor.
I think you're exaggerating. I think if a guy is 5'11" or over height is not a factor anymore. I don't know any girl below 5'10" who would turn down a guy for being 5'11". I agree that below 5'7" height begins being a problem. 5'8" is fine though for a lot of girls. I'm a female just below 5'8" and I would date a guy who is 5'8".
 
  • #42
Interesting topic. I'm 6'3 and pretty well built and I've dated girls from 5'2 to 6'2 (currently with a 5'2). I've also been rejected by all types of girls in between those areas too.

What I've noticed, from watching friends and girls I've dated, is that if the girl has a tall father and tall brothers, they are looking for a taller guy. But if their family is generally shorter, then it does not matter.
 
  • #43
DocHoliday said:
... What I've noticed, from watching friends and girls I've dated, is that if the girl has a tall father and tall brothers, they are looking for a taller guy. But if their family is generally shorter, then it does not matter.

So my time spent watching my possible-future-to-be-girfriend's family eating dinner from a bush outside the window was time well spent?

(They're all tall, by the way. And they freakin' love spaghetti.)
 
  • #44
AnTiFreeze3 said:
So my time spent watching my possible-future-to-be-girfriend's family eating dinner from a bush outside the window was time well spent?
I don't know if it was time well spent, but you could end up doing time for it.
 
  • #45
I am taller than average and she is shorter than average, ~30cm height difference. Height was never a factor for me though. In fact it is adorable to watch her get on her tiptoes for a kiss (and I still need to bow a bit)
 
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  • #46
AnTiFreeze3 said:
So my time spent watching my possible-future-to-be-girfriend's family eating dinner from a bush outside the window was time well spent?

(They're all tall, by the way. And they freakin' love spaghetti.)



Heh. No but it's something I have noticed. It reminds them of their family more, and if a girl has a great connection with her family I believe she will be more inclined to date a guy who has similar traits.
 
  • #47
DocHoliday said:
Heh. No but it's something I have noticed. It reminds them of their family more, and if a girl has a great connection with her family I believe she will be more inclined to date a guy who has similar traits.

That might be applicable to what Freud's philosophy was (even though it's now apparently popular for psychologists to try and disprove everything he ever said), in that men are attracted to women that are similar to their mothers.
 
  • #48
My wife and I met through a height matching agency. She is the perfect height, not an inch too tall or too short, and so am I.
 

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