Height and subjective well-being in Italy

Abstract

Using an Italian survey, we investigate the effect of height on individual happiness. We find that a large part of the effect of height on well-being is driven by a positive correlation between height and economic and health conditions. However, for young men the effect of height on happiness persists even after controlling for these variables, implying that height is associated with some psycho-social direct effects on well-being. Consistent with this hypothesis, we find that men care not only about their own height but also about the height of others in their reference group. Well-being is greater for individuals who are taller than other men in their reference group. Results are robust to different definitions of reference group and controlling for a number of other reference group characteristics.

Introduction

Being tall is associated with a number of advantages. Tall people (excluding the extremely tall) are more likely to have a long term partner and to have children (Nettle, 2002a, Nettle, 2002b); they attain higher levels of education (Magnusson et al., 2006) and receive higher wages than shorter people, even after controlling for the level of education acquired, the type of job performed (Persico et al., 2004, Herpin, 2005, Heineck, 2006, Case and Paxson, 2008, Hübler, 2009, Cinnirella et al., 2011) and irrespective of the physical strenuousness of the job (Bockerman et al., 2010). In addition, they have more chance of playing sports at a professional level or becoming supermodels (Saint Onge et al., 2008).¹ Height seems to have a strong inverse association with suicide risk (Magnusson et al., 2005) and it is also positively associated with life expectancy (Koch, 2011). All these findings together seem to indicate that there is more chance of tall people enjoying a better life. This is confirmed by some empirical papers that find a positive correlation between height and subjective well-being (Keyes, 1980, Cohen, 2009, Rees et al., 2009, Deaton and Arora, 2009, Denny, 2010). As height is also associated with some costs, for example expenses for special clothes, high ceiling homes, the relationship between height and well-being is probably an inverse U.

However, the reasons for which tall people enjoy better lives are quite controversial. Disentangling the channels through which height affects well-being is complicated. Researchers are typically not able to observe all the factors affecting an individual's well-being and height may be correlated to some unobserved individual characteristics which may lead to a spurious correlation. For example, many empirical investigations show a strong effect of height on well-being, which vanishes or is reduced once individual income, education and health conditions are controlled for (Deaton and Arora, 2009, Denny, 2010, Steckel, 1995, Strauss and Thomas, 1998). Why, though, are taller people better educated, better paid and in better health than shorter people? Several explanations have been advanced. The height advantage is the result of growth during adolescence and greater growth correlates with greater cognitive abilities, physical and mental health. Children who are not well nourished or suffer from diseases that slow their growth during childhood might not reach their potential height and might also not develop their full physical and cognitive potential, which in turn may lead to worse health, educational attainment and earnings in adulthood (Case and Paxson, 2008). Height may also be positively associated with self-esteem and the acquisition of some forms of soft skills, such as social adaptability, confidence and abilities in social interactions (Loh, 1993, Persico et al., 2004, Magnusson et al., 2006). Others argue that height confers authority and therefore has advantages in managerial positions. Still others suggest that the height premium is due to discrimination in the labor market, similar to the beauty premium (Saint Onge et al., 2008, Hamermesh, 2011). According to this view, taller people develop a better opinion of themselves and feel at an advantage in social interactions as they are perceived more positively by their peers. Persico et al. argue that being relatively short when a teenager is crucial in explaining wage returns to height and suggest that it may be due to the fact that shorter teenagers, stigmatized because of their stature, may find it more difficult to acquire social and soft skills. This also helps to explain the lower suicide rate of tall people (Magnusson et al., 2005).

Other than indirect effects, such as better outcomes in the labor market, self-esteem and social skills can have some more direct effects on well-being. These effects may also derive from the fact that, in some cultures, height is a proxy for social status and being good looking. Height is relevant in the marriage market and a number of papers find that women tend to prefer men who are taller than they are (Nettle, 2002a, Pawlowski et al., 2000, Belot and Fidrmuc, 2010, Oreffice and Quintana-Domeque, 2010), while men prefer women who are shorter than they are (Nettle, 2002b). According to Barber (1995) and Jackson and Ervin (1992), the preference shown by women for taller men is due to the relationship between height and the perceived social status and strength of a man.² Another explanation is proposed by evolutionary theories arguing that, as greater height signals better health, this translates into a preference for taller mates and explains why, ceteris paribus, shorter people may be viewed as less appealing.³

In this paper we explore the psychological and social relationship between height and well-being in Italy. In addition, we test whether some important psycho-social benefits of height derive from relative height – that is one's own height compared to the average height within a comparison group – other than one's own absolute height. We expect that “being tall” is also a social construct that depend on the average height of people living within a given context.

The relevance of social comparison for individual well-being has already been highlighted in several papers with respect to a number of important aspects of well-being, such as income (Clark et al., 2008, Easterlin, 2001, Diener et al., 1993, Ferrer-i-Carbonell, 2005, McBride, 2001), health (Carrieri, 2012, Powdthavee, 2009), obesity (Blanchflower et al., 2009, Felton and Graham, 2005, Maximova et al., 2008) and unemployment status (Clark, 2003, Powdthavee, 2007). We argue that social comparison may be relevant also for height leading to social and psychological implications.