Height, weight and earnings among coalminers in India

Dinda, Soumyananda; Gangopadhyay, Partha; Chattopadhyay, B.; Saiyed, H. N.; Pal, Manisha; Bharati, Premananda

doi:10.1016/j.ehb.2005.10.003

Cited by 46 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…Consistent with findings in industrial countries, on average, taller men and women earned higher wages in urban Brazil [21], in rural Philippines [29], and in Indian coal mines [30], and taller Indian children did better in cognitive tests [31]. However, height was negatively correlated with foraging productivity among the !Kung San in Africa [32], and among the Tsimane’ in the Bolivian Amazon adult height bore no association with many socioeconomic indicators of well-being, including schooling, income, or wealth [33].…”

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 69%

“…The attribution of strength to the tall may partly explain the higher wages that tall workers receive in regions that rely mostly on manual labor [29], [30], or even preferences in mate choice [55]. In previous studies among the Tsimane’ we found weak associations between adult height and indicators of well-being [33], and low but positive assortative mating for height [56].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 56%

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The Perceived Benefits of Height: Strength, Dominance, Social Concern, and Knowledge among Bolivian Native Amazonians

et al. 2012

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Research in industrial countries suggests that, with no other knowledge about a person, positive traits are attributed to taller people and correspondingly, that taller people have slightly better socioeconomic status (SES). However, research in some non-industrialized contexts has shown no correlation or even negative correlations between height and socioeconomic outcomes. It remains unclear whether positive traits remain attributed to taller people in such contexts. To address this question, here we report the results of a study in a foraging-farming society of native Amazonians in Bolivia (Tsimane’)–a group in which we have previously shown little association between height and socioeconomic outcomes. We showed 24 photographs of pairs of Tsimane’ women, men, boys, and girls to 40 women and 40 men >16 years of age. We presented four behavioral scenarios to each participant and asked them to point to the person in the photograph with greater strength, dominance, social concern, or knowledge. The pairs in the photographs were of the same sex and age, but one person was shorter. Tsimane’ women and men attributed greater strength, dominance, and knowledge to taller girls and boys, but they did not attribute most positive traits to taller adults, except for strength, and more social concern only when women assessed other women in the photographs. These results raise a puzzle: why would Tsimane’ attribute positive traits to tall children, but not tall adults? We propose three potential explanations: adults’ expectations about the more market integrated society in which their children will grow up, height as a signal of good child health, and children’s greater variation in the traits assessed corresponding to maturational stages.

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Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 69%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 56%

The Perceived Benefits of Height: Strength, Dominance, Social Concern, and Knowledge among Bolivian Native Amazonians

et al. 2012

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“…Such effects hold across different cultures and contexts with taller men and women earning more in urban Brazil (Thomas and Strauss, 1997) and taller coalmine workers in India earning more than shorter individuals (Dinda et al, 2006).…”

Section: Heightmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evolution, Appearance, and Occupational Success

Little

Roberts

2012

Evol Psychol

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Visual characteristics, including facial appearance, are thought to play an important role in a variety of judgments and decisions that have real occupational outcomes in many settings. Indeed, there is growing evidence suggesting that appearance influences hiring decisions and even election results. For example, attractive individuals are more likely to be hired, taller men earn more, and the facial appearance of candidates has been linked to real election outcomes. In this article, we review evidence linking physical appearance to occupational success and evaluate the hypothesis that appearance based biases are consistent with predictions based on evolutionary theories of coalition formation and leadership choice. We discuss why appearance based effects are so pervasive, addressing ideas about a "kernel of truth" in attributions and about coalitional psychology. We additionally highlight that appearance may be differently related to success at work according to the types of job or task involved. For example, leaders may be chosen because the characteristics they possess are seen as best suited to lead in particular situations. During a time of war, a dominant-appearing leader may inspire confidence and intimidate enemies while during peace-time, when negotiation and diplomacy are needed, interpersonal skills may outweigh the value of a dominant leader. In line with these ideas, masculine-faced leaders are favored in war-time scenarios while feminine-faced leaders are favored in peace-time scenarios. We suggest that such environment or task specific competencies may be prevalent during selection processes, whereby individuals whose appearance best matches perceived task competences are most likely selected, and propose the general term "task-congruent selection" to describe these effects. Overall, our review highlights how potentially adaptive biases could influence choices in the work place. With respect to certain biases, understanding their origin and current prevalence is important in order to potentially reduce discrimination in the work place.

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“…Both extremes may be associated with lower productivity or discrimination from employers fearing higher health costs. However, evidence from less developed countries has shown a positive association between wages and weight (Carba et al 2009; Deolalikar 1988; Dinda et al 2006; Paul Schultz 2003; Strauss and Thomas 1998; Thomas and Strauss 1997). The effect of weight on earnings is likely to depend on the cultural norms of a country, the characteristics and patterns of discrimination in the labor market, and the stage of the nutrition transition.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Weight and earnings among childbearing women in Metropolitan Cebu, Philippines (1983–2002)

Colchero

Bishai

2012

Economics & Human Biology

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We estimated the relationship between weight status and earnings among women participating in the Cebu Longitudinal Health and Nutrition Surveys between 1983 and 2002 conducted in Cebu, Philippines. Women working for pay were selected for the analysis. We used fixed effects estimation to account for unobserved time invariant characteristics related to weight. After correcting for potential bias due to unobserved heterogeneity, our results suggest that the earnings of obese or overweight women in Cebu (Philippines) were not less than women of normal weight. The relation between earnings and weight exists only among self-employed women or women working in more than one type of activity. No discrimination was found among women working for wages or per piece rate. In contrast, among self-employed and women working in more than one type of activity we found that underweight women earn less than do those with normal weight.

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Height, weight and earnings among coalminers in India

Cited by 46 publications

References 23 publications

The Perceived Benefits of Height: Strength, Dominance, Social Concern, and Knowledge among Bolivian Native Amazonians

The Perceived Benefits of Height: Strength, Dominance, Social Concern, and Knowledge among Bolivian Native Amazonians

Evolution, Appearance, and Occupational Success

Weight and earnings among childbearing women in Metropolitan Cebu, Philippines (1983–2002)

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