Success is more likely if you're tall
Success or failure in life can be attributed to different factors: drive, intelligence and . . . height? Author Arianne Cohen talks with Kai Ryssdal about why tall people are more likely to succeed professionally and financially than others of shorter stature.
Author Arianne Cohen (ariannecohen.com)
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TEXT OF INTERVIEW
Kai Ryssdal: There are all kinds of reasons why one might be successful in life and work, or less than completely successful. Drive, intelligence, economic opportunity. Also, in some cases, how tall you are. Height can play a big part in whether the chips fall in your favor or not. Arianne Cohen explores than notion in her new book called, "The Tall Book: A Celebration of Life from on High." Arianne, welcome to the program.
ARIANNE COHEN: Thank you.
Ryssdal: Is there a textbook definition of what it means to be tall? I mean, people look at me, and you know, I'm 6'1" and people say, wow, you're tall. And I'm like, yeah, well, you know, sometimes.
COHEN: Generally you're tall if you're in the top 20th percentile. Although, you're tall if you're taller than the people around you. I mean, it's relative.
Ryssdal: Where did this book come from? What happened to you to write this book?
COHEN: My entire life I have been super tall. And there was no book about it. And I really wanted to understand it, and sort of make a book that was a kinda fun, foundational knowledge for tall people. This being said, what ended up happening, it's sorta a book about success. And kinda how to succeed, and how you can kinda trace when people are succeeding and when they're not.
Ryssdal: And there is this sort of thought out there that tall people generally have it easier. You guys, you make more money, you are more successful, you're regarded as rich and handsome and all that stuff.
COHEN: The truth is, tall people do make more money. They make $789 more per inch per year. They live a little bit longer. And there's a really minor, mild IQ bust. But that's it. They're not nicer. They're not prettier. They're not anything else. But they've sort of gotten a halo in society at this point.
Ryssdal: But $789 per inch per year. I mean, you know, that could add up to a couple of thousand dollars.
COHEN: It absolutely does. And it's kinda of a funny joke on an individual basis. But if you look at society, that's $170 billion of income moving from the shortest quartile to the tallest quartile every year, which is huge. I mean, that's almost Empire Building. But what it also means is that tall people are a hugely undervalued market group. We do a lot of one-size-fits-all products. And it's something that I think every consumer company should be looking at because tall people . . . I mean, not only are they successful, they have a lot of money, and they're not a well-served group.
Ryssdal: You know what I'm thinking now, though? I'm thinking we need to tax you guys more, right?
COHEN: You know, some Harvard guys thought this too, Kai. You're right on the same page as the smartest economists in the country. Two guys named Gregory Mankiw and Matthew Weinzierl, they're Harvard economists. They wrote a paper a couple of years ago, saying that tall people should be taxed more. And the reason is economists think that our tax system is making up for the inability to tax talent and ability. So economists are always kind of seduced by the idea that, Wow, tall people consistently make more money, so we should tax them. I find this kind of offensive as a tall person. Luckily, I think that a lot of Congress does too. Congress is filled with 6-footers. In fact, over half of our senators are 6 foot or above.
Ryssdal: Are there things that people who don't necessarily have the advantage of height can do to sort of, well, not pretend, but make up for it in a way, and sort of have that bearing and command in meetings and in the workplace.
COHEN: Absolutely. The number one thing that people need to do is act like a leader. Tall people tend to act like a leader from a very young age because other children relate to them like a slightly older peer. So they're just always the leader from, you know, age 6 on. And in the workplace, when you're automatically acting as a leader, that's really important when it comes time for promotion and the bosses are looking around at who can take control. It's the guy who has already been taking control.
Ryssdal: When you are in a room, obviously, you know people walk in, they look at you, and they think to themselves, if they don't say it aloud, they think, wow, she's really tall. Do you look down at the rest of us and say, Wow, they're all really average sized?
COHEN: No, I look down and them and say please don't tell me that I'm tall. Please. There's three questions that tall people are constantly asked. It's, How tall are you? How tall are your parents? And do you play basketball? And I think that a good rule of thumb is that compliments are always welcome, but please don't ask me how tall I am.
Ryssdal: The book by Arianne Cohen is called "The Tall Book." She's 6'3", by the way. Thanks a lot for your time.
COHEN: Thank you very much.
Comments
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From Newport Richey, FL, 06/27/2009
The gentleman below who's so eager to show his junk. I've seen it and it's nothing to brag about. I sense a complex in NPR!
From FL, 06/18/2009
Tall people are cool. When really tall guys act like they're better than me, I just remind them that my "junk" is way bigger. I will show it upon request. :)
From nashville, TN, 06/18/2009
As a 6-foot tall woman married to a towering 5' 8" husband... height is a constant source of humor in our relationship. I am typically the victor in these height-related jousts- a fact which can lend credit to me being not only too tall, but also a little too over-competitive. On occasion, I even enlist the aid of outside sources to further my cause, like inserting Randy Newman's classic tune "Short People" into his iPOD gym playlist. Consider my husband’s joy when Karl Galko's hilarious comments (see previous above) were read on NPR (Tuesday, June 16th) while we were en route to dinner with friends. Upon exiting the car, I will tell you, my husband walked a little taller into that restaurant. Brilliant, Karl!
From HI, 06/14/2009
Embrace diversity, the basis for our division of labor, division that provides extreme efficiency, the power of George Washington's Magnificent Nation.
Although my wife was sensitive about being the tallest child in her class, she is now insensitive, and her mother is incensed. Take my mother-in-law; please.
The tall man can paint the ceiling, but the short man can shim the starter-motor to the fly-wheel within the small crawl space, unless he is not short from one side to the other. I like to specialize in changing air filter. Next week perhaps I can obtain my certification in air-filter reassessment, replacement when I first obtain my prerequisite certification of spent filter recycling science. People with good sun-tan can look good inside bikini, but paleface people are better at sneaking up on polar-bear. Harpo is better at music but Groucho is better at dry joke.
Support diversity!
Be all that we can be, Americans
!
Grazia,
A
From Birmingham, AL, 06/13/2009
Speaking of Napoleon, someone should report on the average height of trial lawyers!
06/12/2009
Tall people generally succeed because they command a greater presence in a room of average sized people. So they tend to be leaders, (caesar comes to mind, he was 6' I think among really short people) so they tend to go up the ladder quicker. There's also short people overcompensating for their shortness, like napoleon.
From Atlanta, GA, 06/12/2009
COHEN "Tall people tend to act like a leader from a very young age" "So they're just always the leader" "that's really important when it comes time for promotion".
Short person embodying leadership qualities are often accused of having a Napoleonic complex.
Thanks! Kai for helping perpetuate already unbearable negative stereotypes and discrimination.
From Harrisburg, PA, 06/11/2009
"Individuals receiving higher incomes simply by way of their genetics and through no merit of their own does not strike me as a good thing." - from Christine Monohan's entry.
If you read the book, you would know that it's not just genetics that makes someone tall. Seriously, I'm 5'4" and I found the book very interesting, and funny to boot. And yes, I have read it already.
From Cleveland, OH, 06/11/2009
Adrienne's closing plea about questions not to ask tall people reminded me of my 6'7" colleague's look-down-his-nose response when asked "Do you play basketball?" His dry response: "Do you play miniature golf?"
From Houston, TX, 06/11/2009
Just curious if NBA/NFL salaries, etc played a part in this -- seems like that might skew the results if you are including Kobe Bryant and Peyton Manning. Unless its a chicken and egg thing.
From Madison, WI, 06/11/2009
I feel so lucky to not be burdened with height. If no one assumed that I was slow or lacked endurance, where would I get the drive to prove wrong? And with the ability to play almost any position in sports, how would I chose with to specialize in?
Thats just the burden with sports though. Think about the dating pool. Being tall would give me soo many choices and make finding "the one" very difficult. And fidelity would just be another challenge.
Well, at least I don't have to deal with these burdens and have a real excuse for my pay, right?
06/11/2009
I am a fan of yours Kai, but where does the "we need to tax you more" comment even come from? They are paying more taxes in aggregate already if they are higher earners. I see no societal impact cost justifies further tax retribution due to being tall.
06/11/2009
Arianne -- I was familiar with the econometric research in the late '90s, when I was in graduate school. You should go back and double-check your work on longevity. After controlling for socioeconomic status, education, GDP/capita of the place you live, choices like smoking, etc., the work then consistently showed longevity, like IQ test score, inversely correlated with height. It's an interesting analytical problem, among other things, because people's height changes over their lifetime, and because there are obviously multicolinearities between things like affluence and acccess to healthcare. You are right though, that tall people are paid more, regardless of their education or experience !!
From Austin, TX, 06/11/2009
Society see's tall as better than short. No one wants to be short, they want to be tall. But if you can't take the non-existent ridicule of being tall anymore read "The Tall Book!" Cheer up knowing, that tall people on average are better in nearly every regard to short people! They make more money, live longer, and they're smarter! Plus, everyone wants to be tall just like you! See, it's not so bad having to hunt for jeans!
It's like a support book for white American men telling them, "Hey! Don't be sad for being called whitey! You're so much better than those you've oppressed!"
Argh. I'm mad because for tall people this is a book on how incredibly likely they're going to succeed in life in every way. Conversely it's a book on how incredibly unlikely I, a short man, will be able to succeed based on an uncontrollable factor.
Watch out for my new book "100 Reasons Why Being Born From Rich Parents is So Much Better Than Being Born From Poor Parents." I'll be giving away free copies to the homeless.
From Sacramento, 06/11/2009
Referring to tall people, Arianne Cohen said "I mean, not only are they successful, they have a lot of money, and they're not a well-served group." At a time when many Americans are underemployed, out of work or otherwise facing hardship, you chose a topic which is not only discouraging but pretty condescending to anyone 5'10" or under. It's also sad that in this day and age we still narrowly define success in financial terms - rather than looking at inventiveness, new ideas, creativity, contributions to society, etc. People need hope and new ideas right now, not new ways to discriminate.
From CA, 06/10/2009
Individuals receiving higher incomes simply by way of their genetics and through no merit of their own does not strike me as a good thing. I fail to see why people would think otherwise, particularly at this point in time. If this book was "celebrating" men making more money on average than their female counterparts, I doubt it would be given one minute on your program. Why should we encourage money moving towards individuals who look like they make good decisions, when we could just as easily move money towards individuals who actually have a history of making them(be they tall or small).
From Los Angeles, CA, 06/10/2009
Rebecca, consider it a tall tale.
From Old Town, ME, 06/10/2009
Well Richard, I don't know if I should consider that a low blow, a bit of a stretch, or, based on your condensed comments, a short joke? =)
From Los Angeles, CA, 06/10/2009
Rebecca, I would think it would be cheaper to be tall -- less over head.
From Old Town, ME, 06/10/2009
But does it cost more to be tall, therefore offsetting most or all of the financial benefit?
From Florence, 06/10/2009
Kai,
I'm someone who believes that everyone over 5'7" is the same height, I'd always believed you were of a reasonable size. But based on your revelation today that you are 6'1" - well... I'm sorry, but I no longer have the same respect for you.
I'm sure this is a personal failing of mine.
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