06.03.2018 Views

The Book of Tells (Peter Collett)[unlocked]

Create successful ePaper yourself

Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.

THE BOOK OF TELLS<br />

<strong>of</strong> the need to 'rise above' or get 'on top <strong>of</strong> our problems.<br />

Women say that they prefer a man to be taller than<br />

them. It's also been found that tall men have greater reproductive<br />

success than short men, which shows that women<br />

are actively selecting tall men as their partners. 4 In the<br />

process, tallness has become an established ideal in men,<br />

and it's now rapidly becoming one in women. Tallness in<br />

men is linked to higher levels <strong>of</strong> the male hormone,<br />

testosterone, and to a more dominant personality. 5 In the<br />

history <strong>of</strong> the United States only three presidents have<br />

been shorter than the national average, and some, like<br />

Abraham Lincoln, towered over their contemporaries. <strong>The</strong><br />

same association is found on Wall Street, where every inch<br />

in height above the norm is worth an additional $600 per<br />

month in salary. 6 Even in universities, where the staff are<br />

supposed to be appointed on the basis <strong>of</strong> academic<br />

excellence alone, we find that assistant pr<strong>of</strong>essors are 1.24<br />

inches taller than the national average, associate<br />

pr<strong>of</strong>essors are 1.5 inches, and full pr<strong>of</strong>essors are 1.94<br />

inches taller than the average person for their age and sex. 7<br />

One way to appear more dominant is to increase one's<br />

apparent height by positioning oneself above other<br />

people. Another is to sit straight or to stand erect.<br />

Psychologists have found that people who adopt an<br />

erect standing posture tend to be seen as more dominant<br />

than those who adopt a slouched posture, and that those<br />

who are trained to stand erect feel more confident and<br />

optimistic than those who continue to stand in their<br />

customary fashion. 8 It has also been found that when<br />

people succeed at a task they tend to respond by sitting up<br />

straight, whereas those who fail at a task are more likely to<br />

respond by slumping forward.<br />

38

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!