From the data, researchers found major differences in relationship patterns between short and tall men.
Love lives of short men:
Short men were found to marry later in life than average or tall men, but were 32 percent less likely to divorce. They were also more likely to marry less educated and younger women. Once married, they did less of the housework and earned a much higher income than their spouse.
Why? The researchers hypothesize that because height is related to masculinity, short men may use other aspects of the relationship — income, housework — to demonstrate their manliness. “Short men may exchange their breadwinner status for less housework... because a lower share of housework or a higher share of relative earnings allow short men to enact traditional gender ideals, thereby performing their masculinity in the absence of symbolic anthropomorphic differences,” the researchers write in the paper.
Love lives of tall men:
Tall men were found to marry sooner in life, but were more at risk for divorce later on, as shorter men had more stable marriages. However, researchers note that the link between short men and stable marriages could be because they chose to marry later (or didn’t have the option until later).
Tall men were also more likely to marry women closer to their age, and who were better-educated.
Why? “From the perspective of relationship exchange models, this indicates that the tallest men exchange their attractive attribute (height) for better-educated spouses, while short men are unable to do so,” the researchers write.
From this research it supports heavily the 80/20 rule when it comes to dating and women willingness to date down in terms of money/job status as long as their man was taller. While short men had to date down but could afford younger wives.
The reason marriages were less stable for taller men because when women shifted over into carrying for provider qualities they were dissatisfied about their husband making less than them leading to divorce.
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