Tall claims? Sense and nonsense about the importance of height of US presidents

G. Stulp; A.P. Buunk; S. Verhulst; T.V. Pollet

doi:10.1016/j.leaqua.2012.09.002

Tall claims? Sense and nonsense about the importance of height of US presidents

G. Stulp, A.P. Buunk, S. Verhulst, T.V. Pollet

Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

Abstract

According to both the scientific literature and popular media, all one needs to win a US presidential election is to be taller than one's opponent. Yet, such claims are often based on an arbitrary selection of elections, and inadequate statistical analysis. Using data on all presidential elections, we show that height is indeed an important factor in the US presidential elections. Candidates that were taller than their opponents received more popular votes, although they were not significantly more likely to win the actual election. Taller presidents were also more likely to be reelected. In addition, presidents were, on average, much taller than men from the same birth cohort. The advantage of taller candidates is potentially explained by perceptions associated with height: taller presidents are rated by experts as 'greater', and having more leadership and communication skills. We conclude that height is an important characteristic in choosing and evaluating political leaders. © 2012 Elsevier Inc.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	159-171
Journal	The Leadership Quarterly
Volume	24
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2012.09.002
Publication status	Published - 2013

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10.1016/j.leaqua.2012.09.002

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1048984312000884

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title = "Tall claims? Sense and nonsense about the importance of height of US presidents",

abstract = "According to both the scientific literature and popular media, all one needs to win a US presidential election is to be taller than one's opponent. Yet, such claims are often based on an arbitrary selection of elections, and inadequate statistical analysis. Using data on all presidential elections, we show that height is indeed an important factor in the US presidential elections. Candidates that were taller than their opponents received more popular votes, although they were not significantly more likely to win the actual election. Taller presidents were also more likely to be reelected. In addition, presidents were, on average, much taller than men from the same birth cohort. The advantage of taller candidates is potentially explained by perceptions associated with height: taller presidents are rated by experts as 'greater', and having more leadership and communication skills. We conclude that height is an important characteristic in choosing and evaluating political leaders. {\textcopyright} 2012 Elsevier Inc.",

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AU - Buunk, A.P.

AU - Verhulst, S.

AU - Pollet, T.V.

PY - 2013

Y1 - 2013

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AB - According to both the scientific literature and popular media, all one needs to win a US presidential election is to be taller than one's opponent. Yet, such claims are often based on an arbitrary selection of elections, and inadequate statistical analysis. Using data on all presidential elections, we show that height is indeed an important factor in the US presidential elections. Candidates that were taller than their opponents received more popular votes, although they were not significantly more likely to win the actual election. Taller presidents were also more likely to be reelected. In addition, presidents were, on average, much taller than men from the same birth cohort. The advantage of taller candidates is potentially explained by perceptions associated with height: taller presidents are rated by experts as 'greater', and having more leadership and communication skills. We conclude that height is an important characteristic in choosing and evaluating political leaders. © 2012 Elsevier Inc.

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DO - 10.1016/j.leaqua.2012.09.002

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