Gert Stulp, Abraham P Buunk, Simon Verhulst,Thomas Pollet; (2015)
Abstract
Across cultures, taller stature is linked to increased social status, but the potential reasons
why this should be are unclear. One potential explanation is that taller individuals are more
likely to win a dyadic confrontation with a competitor (i.e., they are more dominant), which
leads to higher social rank. Although some previous studies have shown that perceptions of
status or dominance are related to height, and are therefore consistent with such an explanation,
there is surprisingly little research testing whether height actually has any influence
on the behavioural outcomes in real-life social interactions. Here, we present three naturalistic
observational studies demonstrating that height predicts interpersonal dominance during
brief dyadic interactions. Study 1 investigated the likelihood of giving way in a narrow
passage (N = 92); Study 2 investigated giving way in a busy shopping street, plus the likelihood
of colliding with another individual (N = 1,108); and Study 3 investigated the likelihood
of maintaining a linear path while walking, and potentially entering another individual’s personal
space (N = 1,056). We conclude that human height is positively related to interpersonal
dominance, and may well contribute to the widely observed positive association between
height and social status.
It would be interesting if they controlled for size -- that is, were the subjects reacting to the opponent's height, or would the subjects have given way equally often to a shorter but bulkier (like a bodybuilder) opponent.
AntwortenLöschenDavid
I'm right there with you. I liked the topic of the study. Personally I almost never collide with other persons on the street. But several friends told me that they collide quite often. I wondered about that.
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