A curvilinear effect of height on reproductive success in human males

Stulp, Gert; Pollet, Thomas V.; Verhulst, Simon; Buunk, Abraham P.

doi:10.1007/s00265-011-1283-2

Cited by 69 publications

(73 citation statements)

References 39 publications

(45 reference statements)

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“…We first examined whether selection pressures on the siblings were similar to those previously described [8,9], by using Poisson regressions. To examine IASC, we first standardized height within each sex and calculated the average standardized height across each sibling pair.…”

Section: (B) Analysesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Survey data were collected at several time points, covering almost 50 years of the participants' lives-see [8,9,12] for discussion of representativeness and other features of this sample. In 1975, respondents of the WLS were asked about their full siblings, and in 1977, 1994 and 2005 one of these siblings (randomly selected) was interviewed.…”

Section: (A) Samplementioning

confidence: 99%

“…On the basis of our predictions, we expected a significant interaction between height of the sibling pair and the sex of the individual in the sibling pair on reproductive success, indicating IASC. More specifically, we expected an interaction between sex and the squared term of height, because of the curvilinear effect of height found for men [9]. Poisson mixed models were used, with a random intercept at sibling pair level, to account for statistical non-independence of sibling pair members.…”

Section: (B) Analysesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Recent studies suggest that IASC could exist for human height, at least in Western populations, given that the selection pressures on height differ between the sexes. In women, a negative relationship between height and reproductive success is found, selectively favouring those women of short height (reviewed in [8]), whereas in men a curvilinear association is more prevalent (reviewed in [9]), such that average height men have more reproductive success than either shorter or taller men (see [8][9][10] for reviews of the potential mechanisms giving rise to these divergent selection pressures). Given the SAS on height and the high heritability of height (h 2 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Intralocus sexual conflict over human height

et al. 2012

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Intralocus sexual conflict (IASC) occurs when a trait under selection in one sex constrains the other sex from achieving its sex-specific fitness optimum. Selection pressures on body size often differ between the sexes across many species, including humans: among men individuals of average height enjoy the highest reproductive success, while shorter women have the highest reproductive success. Given its high heritability, IASC over human height is likely. Using data from sibling pairs from the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study, we present evidence for IASC over height: in shorter sibling pairs (relatively) more reproductive success (number of children) was obtained through the sister than through the brother of the sibling pair. By contrast, in average height sibling pairs most reproductive success was obtained through the brother relative to the sister. In conclusion, we show that IASC over a heritable, sexually dimorphic physical trait (human height) affects Darwinian fitness in a contemporary human population.

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Section: (B) Analysesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: (A) Samplementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: (B) Analysesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Intralocus sexual conflict over human height

et al. 2012

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“…Consistent with reported height preferences, there is some evidence that taller men (Mueller & Mazur, 2001;Pawlowski, Dunbar, & Lipowicz, 2000), and short (Devi, Kumari, & Srikumari, 1985) or average height women (Mueller, 1979;Nettle, 2002;Vetta, 1975) have greater reproductive success than people of other heights, though these effects are not replicated in all studies. See Sear (2010) and Stulp, Pollet, Verhulst, and Buunk (2012) for a full review of studies on height and reproductive success.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Concordant preferences for actual height and facial cues to height

Ré

Perrett

2012

Personality and Individual Differences

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a b s t r a c tPhysical height has a well-documented effect on human mate preferences. In general, both sexes prefer opposite-sex romantic relationships in which the man is taller than the woman, while individual preferences for height are affected by a person's own height. Research in human mate choice has demonstrated that attraction to facial characteristics, such as facial adiposity, may reflect preferences for body characteristics. Here, we tested preferences for facial cues to height. In general, increasing apparent height in men's faces and slightly decreasing apparent height in women's faces maximizes perceived attractiveness. Individual preferences for facial cues to height were predicted by self-reported preferences for actual height. Furthermore, women's own height predicted opposite-sex preferences for facial cues to apparent height, though this finding did not extend to male participants. These findings validate the use of facial cues to height and demonstrate a further component of facial attractiveness that reflects preferences for body characteristics.

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Physical Attractiveness: An Adaptationist Perspective

Sugiyama

2015

The Handbook of Evolutionary Psychology

100

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How and why do our minds generate different levels of attraction to others? This chapter integrates life history, evolutionary psychology, and human biology approaches to address this question. Biological adaptations regulate a vast number of life history trade‐offs that affect how we look, smell, sound, and behave. Selection produced adaptations that evaluate these cues and regulate our degree of attraction to others based on their relative probable social value to us in different contexts. This chapter outlinesthe alternative evolutionary explanations for the emergence of an attraction,basic components necessary for attraction systems to evolve, and sources of variation in attractiveness assessment. It identifies different domains of social value for which attractiveness assessment evolved, reviews evidence for some of the hypothesized attractiveness‐assessment adaptations in those domains, and highlights avenues calling for increased attention. Finally, it calls for greater integration of evolutionary psychology, human biological research, and data from small‐scale foraging societies to generate predictions about these domains of social value, the cues or signals associated with them, adaptations selected to regulate attraction to them, and the life history trade‐offs involved in these processes. New research on body shape attractiveness is presented to illustrate these points.

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A curvilinear effect of height on reproductive success in human males

Cited by 69 publications

References 39 publications

Intralocus sexual conflict over human height

Intralocus sexual conflict over human height

Concordant preferences for actual height and facial cues to height

Physical Attractiveness: An Adaptationist Perspective

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