Tall people are happier, better educated

[Evo]

Must be true some economist at Princeton says so. He also says "income is the thing".

According to a paper from the National Bureau of Economic Research, both men and women who are above average height - 5 ft. 10 in. for males, 5 ft. 4 in. for females - report higher levels of happiness than smaller people.

In the study, men who call their lives the "worst possible" are nearly an inch shorter than the average man. The women most down in the dumps are half an inch smaller, on average, than the average woman. Taller people say they are more content, and are less likely to report a range of negative emotions like sadness and physical pain. "Happiness is just one more thing that taller people have going for them," says Angus Deaton, a Princeton economist and co-author of the study, who stands a smug 6 ft. 4 in. (Full disclosure: I, too, am about 6 ft. 4 in., but I will refrain from mocking shrimps in this story.)


Why are tall people happier? According to Deaton's analysis, the result is linked to education and income. The study found that taller people tend to have more education, and thus higher income levels, than shorter people. It follows that the smarter, richer tall people would be sunnier than their vertically challenged compatriots. "Money buys enjoyment and higher life evaluation," says Deaton. "It buys off stress, anger, worry and pain. Income is the thing!"

http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20090729/us_time/08599191325600

I hate these articles that do not link to the "research" so we can judge just how well or poorly it was done.

 

[Proton Soup]

funny, in china there is a real bias towards placing tall people in positions of authority. so much so that people are investing in painful surgeries to artificially stretch the bones in their legs to become taller. it's a bit like investing in education here to achieve a better outcome.

i guess i'd be happier, too, if people were always "looking up to me".

 

[moose]

Do they take into account the fact that malnutrition leads to not growing as tall?

Also, I'm a 5'8" guy and my life is awesome.

 

[Jimmy Snyder]

After I read that, I nearly fell off the hammock on my yacht. I don't want to embarrass myself by telling you my height, but suffice it to say that I'm the last to know if it's raining and the first to know if there's a flood. But happiness? I'm delirious. Not that I need to be happy. One of my 6'2" servants does that for me. My wife is short too. I asked her about it when we sat down to dinner. We have one of those tables that can accommodate a large crowd, so I had to hand a message to my butler who legged it over to her side of the table. She wrote back that she was happy, but she wished I would keep the $100 bills on a lower shelf so she could reach them more easily.

 

[Cyrus]

I'm 6'5" and look down on all you unworthy peons.

 

[xxChrisxx]

I'm 5" 5', have angry short man syndrome and would headbutt you in the nads Cyrus :D:D:D

 

[Ivan Seeking]

In other words, size does matter.

As for money, I think it depends entirely how the money is made. I've never been so miserable as when I was making more money than I ever thought possible.

 

[arildno]

QED

 

[Pinu7]

Size? It makes all the difference.

 

[Cyrus]

In other words, size does matter.

As for money, I think it depends entirely how the money is made. I've never been so miserable as when I was making more money than I ever thought possible.

I've read accounts by several different journalists that the happiest people are alway the very poorest. They are always smiling, which is rarely the case for richer people. I think they attributed it to the fact that rich people spend most of their time worrying about things, while the poor people enjoy a simple stress free life.

 

[junglebeast]

This is no surprise. There's a reason we have phrases for "looking down on" a person and "looking up on" a person. It's because when you're taller looking down, you feel more powerful and confident...confidence makes a person more attractive, and confidence is necessary for success. On the other hand, a short person who can be looked down upon is easier to mock, and they will naturally feel less confidence when dwarfed in size by someone else. I was a late bloomer, and I definitely felt insecure due to my short stature in my early days.

 

[Evo]

Does anyone here think that there is any truth to his claim that "tall people are better educated"?

 

[drankin]

I'm typically the tallest person in the room at 6'3". I thought I was tall until a couple of weeks ago when I stood next a man and found that my eye level was in the middle of his chest!

I'm not as educated as most of the people I work with but I do make more moolah than most of them. Maybe they are paying me per the inch as opposed to my wit and good looks.

 

[dlgoff]

Does anyone here think that there is any truth to his claim that "tall people are better educated"?

Sounds like a good time for a poll Evo. Count me as tall, partially educated, and poor as hell.

 

[xxChrisxx]

Does anyone here think that there is any truth to his claim that "tall people are better educated"?

I think the only sensible answer to that is no. It's like saying people who have blue eyes are better xylophone players.

How could there possibly be any correlation between height and education. It would have been more believable (read: marginally less bull****) to say that tall people have higher intelligence, as body and natural ability are definitely linked. But education != intelligence or vice versa. Even then this is a blanket statement that won't hold true to any scrutiny.

Weath and education go hand in hand. If it could be argued that tall people have more cash, therefore more education. But that's kind of going round the houses.

In the end any all sweeping statement that makes wild claims is utterly stupid.

 

[drankin]

I've read accounts by several different journalists that the happiest people are alway the very poorest. They are always smiling, which is rarely the case for richer people. I think they attributed it to the fact that rich people spend most of their time worrying about things, while the poor people enjoy a simple stress free life.

Stress isn't relieved by being poor. At least I haven't seen evidence of this. I've been poor and I found it very stressful. Anybody can worry about things, rich or poor. It's more of a trait of being a human than income status. There are rich people with carefree lives and there are poor people with carefree lives. Stress can be cause by a poor ability to handle finances, regardless of income.

 

[waht]

Confidence is a main key to success. Perhaps if you are tall you might have better confidence, but I have seen too many counterexamples.

 

[Cyrus]

Stress isn't relieved by being poor. At least I haven't seen evidence of this. I've been poor and I found it very stressful. Anybody can worry about things, rich or poor. It's more of a trait of being a human than income status. There are rich people with carefree lives and there are poor people with carefree lives. Stress can be cause by a poor ability to handle finances, regardless of income.

I mean, poor people living in India and various other 3rd world countries poor.

 

[drankin]

I think the only sensible answer to that is no. It's like saying people who have blue eyes are better xylophone players.

How could there possibly be any correlation between height and education. It would have been more believable (read: marginally less bull****) to say that tall people have higher intelligence, as body and natural ability are definitely linked. But education != intelligence or vice versa. Even then this is a blanket statement that won't hold true to any scrutiny.

Weath and education go hand in hand. If it could be argued that tall people have more cash, therefore more education. But that's kind of going round the houses.

In the end any all sweeping statement that makes wild claims is utterly stupid.

Urban legend that I've heard (from Mom) is that those in higher paying executive positions tend to be filled by taller individuals. Which would lead to taller offspring, which would lead to the childs likelyhood to a better secondary education because of a better household income. I'm sure there are studies that show that children that complete a secondary education typically came from families with higher incomes than those do not, on average. If true, I'm sure that it was more applicable to earlier generations.

 

[drankin]

I mean, poor people living in India and various other 3rd world countries poor.

Then you are also talking about completely different cultures.

 

[Cyrus]

Then you are also talking about completely different cultures.

Yeah.

 

[leroyjenkens]

I'm 6'1" and my life isn't all that great. I'm trying to make it better. I don't know if being tall is helping.

 

[Pengwuino]

I'm 5" 5', have angry short man syndrome and would headbutt you in the nads Cyrus :D:D:D

Ditto. I also have ASMS

 

[xxChrisxx]

Ditto. I also have ASMS

Heh to be honest I think i'd still be a grumpy, impatient bastard if I were tall. My brother is slightly taller than me (about 5" 8', so still fairly short) and is the most laid back person in the world.

 

[Cyrus]

The air is so much fresher up here. You underlings have to breathe us tall peoples exhaled breath.

 

[turbo]

I am a bit shorter because of an uninsured back-injury almost 35 years ago that I could not get repaired. I was a bit over 5'7" before and aboutn 5'6" now after the connective tissues between two disks was flattened and fused, and the tissues between adjacent vertebrae were crushed.

I'm still pretty well-educated and am still engaged in peer-reviewed research in astronomy and astrophysics and have been published in a peer-reviewed journal and and more popular magazines, but then again maybe the taller, more superior members could dash in and demonstrate their scientific superiority.

I'd love to see links to the papers or letters that the "superior" members have written.

 

[lisab]

I am a bit shorter because of an uninsured back-injury almost 35 years ago that I could not get repaired. I was a bit over 5'7" before and aboutn 5'6" now after the connective tissues between two disks was flattened and fused, and the tissues between adjacent vertebrae were crushed.

I'm still pretty well-educated and am still engaged in peer-reviewed research in astronomy and astrophysics and have been published in a peer-reviewed journal and and more popular magazines, but then again maybe the taller, more superior members could dash in and demonstrate their scientific superiority.

I'd love to see links to the papers or letters that the "superior" members have written.

So, when you lost an inch you didn't get sadder or dumber...well, there goes that theory!

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Does anyone here think that there is any truth to his claim that "tall people are better educated"?

If tall people tend to have tall parents, and if tall people tend to be more successful than people of average height, then it would stand to reason that tall people could tend to have wealthier parents and therefore tend to be better educated than those who are vertically challenged.

 

[turbo]

So, when you lost an inch you didn't get sadder or dumber...well, there goes that theory!

No. My wife gets to look me closer in the eye and when I tell her about some breakthrough that my gang has come up with, she is supportive and still gives me high-fives. I'm still really happy, despite the "tall = happy" nonsense. Maybe I should get myself stretched or get myself compressed to conform to what some idiot thinks how I should think about myself. ... Pretty stupid.

 

[Cyrus]

No. My wife gets to look me closer in the eye and when I tell her about some breakthrough that my gang has come up with, she is supportive and still gives me high-fives. I'm still really happy, despite the "tall = happy" nonsense. Maybe I should get myself stretched or get myself compressed to conform to what some idiot thinks how I should think about myself. ... Pretty stupid.

Man, it's not just fragrances you're sensitive to...