What’s height got to do with it?

Ever hear a woman say she’s looking for Mr. Tall, dark, and handsome? Well she might actually be doing just that. In an article by Gayle Brewer entitled, “Height, Relationship Satisfaction, Jealousy, and Mate Retention” the relative attractiveness of different heights to women are investigated.

In this study it is discussed that women, in general prefer tall men because of the evolutionary advantages that being tall possesses. The taller a man is the greater the quantity of testosterone is present in his body. The greater the height of a man may indicate a better ability to protect or provide, which in turn is a cue to a woman that a taller man will be able to pass on these qualities to her children.

In a study of 98 heterosexual males it was shown that men that were taller had less jealousy in their relationships, and were over all more satisfied with their relationships. That’s not to say that taller men are not prone to be just as jealous as shorter men, they are just jealous at different instances for different reasons. Tall men and short men also deal with their jealously differently.

Taller men tend to ward off their chances of jealously by practicing “mate retention” behaviors. They are more likely to make sure that almost all of their mate’s time is spent with them instead of out with friends where there could be other males that their partner could find more attractive. Taller men are also more likely to be watchful of their partner to make sure that they are not talking with someone of the opposite sex behind their back. The reason that taller men use these strategies is because they find themselves to be good mate choices and don’t view this potentially negative behavior as having any serious consequences on the relationship since they don’t feel they have much competition.

Since shorter men often feel more jealousy then taller men they are more apt to try and keep their partner by showing more care and affection. They are more likely to try and convince their partner that they don’t need to go and look for some taller man with more testosterone because they are a more stable partner that can provide and give them the affection that they need.

After reading this article it started me thinking about the whole idea behind why so many women prefer the “bad guy” to the “good guy” It seems like the taller men that have more testosterone have more of the bad guy qualities when they are practicing mate retention behaviors, like watching their partner, and keeping them from spending time with other people besides themselves. Shorter men seem to exude the good guy qualities with their mate retention behaviors when they do more caring and affectionate things to try and maintain their relationships.

*New word: Cuckold- The husband of an unfaithful wife.

Example: The shorter man was made a cuckold when his wife cheated on him with a taller man.