Tall Women Earn More, According to Study
Miscellaneous April 19th, 2010
This is by Emily Thomas, who writes on the topics of top online colleges. She welcomes your questions and comments at her email Id: emily.thomas31@gmail.com.
Ever thought that your height may have an effect in other areas of your life? According to a very recent study, women who are taller than five foot eight tend to earn more money. The study, which surveyed over 1400 women of varying heights, found that “tall” women (over 5’8) are basically twice as likely to earn more than $46,000. On average, tall women earn roughly 8000 dollars more per year than their shorter counterparts. The study was conducted by the group Opinion Matters and was sponsored by the clothing and accessories retailer Long Tall Sally.
So what is the reason for taller women earning more? Many speculate that taller women are simply perceived as more confident. What’s more, tall women have been found to be more satisfied with their bodies than shorter women. The same survey found that twenty five percent of tall women would not change anything about their bodies, while nine out of ten women who are under five eight were dissatisfied with their body as they were.
The Wall Street Journal conducted an interview last year with Arianne Cohen, a six foot three Harvard Alum who was once a partner in the world’s tallest couple (he was 7’2), and who also penned the very informative essay collection, “The Tall Book,” which was released in the summer of last year. In the interview, Cohen discusses the ups and downs of being tall, and gives tips for tall women in particular about various aspects of life that many don’t even think about, like toilets, food, airplane seats, and the travails of dating.
Cohen argues that although it costs more to be a tall woman (more food, the need for tailored, custom-fitted clothing, and high-ceilinged homes, among other reasons), she reiterates similar findings of the mentioned study, claiming that tall people earn approximately 2.5% more per added inch.
Despite the fact that Cohen trumpets tallness, she encourages shorter people by indicating that the confidence tall people seem to implicitly have can be attained by anyone, regardless of size. In the interview, she explains, “…what I found is that much of [advancement in business] is behavioral–tall people consistently display a few behaviors that are directly correlated to success, which can be mimicked by anyone.”
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