Height & Attraction: Size Really Does Matter…

You may have heard the expression “Tall, Dark and Handsome”; a proverbial laundry list of physical prerequisites in the rough and tumble world of female attraction.  During a recent trip south of the broader I was struck by how vertically challenged my male counterparts where/are.  Regardless of which society, we all seem to maneuver around a sequence of unwritten yet omnipresent social policies in the mating selection. One of the most pervasive is the notion, rather, condition that males must be at least as tall if not taller than the female in order to develop any relationship of substance. Although “understood” and accepted by most males recent studies shed some light into height and the attraction process.

Is there an ideal height ratio? In other words-- how tall should you be relative to the women you are trying to attract?

Anthropologist Dr. Boguslaw Pawlowski believes that indeed an optimal height difference ratio does exist. In varies studies conducted by Dr. Pawlowski he suggest that in relationships --- trust, money, and respect are less important than the height difference ratio of 1 to 1.09.  Specifically Boguslaw implies that, to achieve true bliss, a man should be 1.09 times taller than his female counterpart.  Assuming there some truth to Pawlowski’s findings- there are some immediate implications in a world of myspace profiles and other social networks in which you are provided with detailed height information.  We can get really specific about whom we try to court/seduce.

Despite Pawlowski’s discovery, I would proposal that perhaps trust, money and respect (among others characteristics) are JUST as important as the height difference ratio. In the scope of it all, height general serves as a surrogate for other factors women find desirable such as social status, financial stability and the capacity to serve as her “protector”.

Interesting enough, most males have a tendency for females of shorter physical stature than themselves (beyond the 1.09 ratio), and studies indicate that women of below average height have greater reproductive success.  In part it’s believed, perceived that smaller equals youthfulness and energy. Its also can be argued that a shorter female is more attractive to males as the height difference extracts out the traditional protection “instinct”—in other words, it allows us to “feel” more manly, more alpha, a sense of keeping our end of the biological and evolutionary mating contract.

Undoubtedly, taller men have a huge (excuse the pun) dating advantage. Simply put taller men will have a larger sample space of women to pick and choice from.  But too tall is not all that attractive either. On the contrary, it may be perceived as a bit freakish.  Some scientist referred to this concept as the "ceiling effect".

What if you’re on the shorter end of the height spectrum? Indeed, height differences have a significant impact on relationships but height and power are often just perceptions.

The key is to exude height.

Below are some pointers on how you can increase your “perceived” height:

1.    Stand erect. The majority of men think they are walking/standing straight but we often tend to slouch. 

2.    Wear darker color clothes. This will provide you with a clean and bolder look.

3.    Buy a full-size wristwatch. The smaller the watch size the less social value a guy is perceived to have.

Survival Tip: There’s one item that will always help you exude height...your wallet. In the words of Aristotle Onassis “when I stand on my wallet I am ten feet tall”. Make that paper fellas...it will help your “game” leaps and bounds.

Share The Water…

Steve Amarante
www.luvjungle.com