Men’s height preferences are responsive to gender-role ideology; women’s preferences are insensitive to it; women prefer a tall partner much more than men prefer a short partner

Gender-Role Ideology and Height Preference in Mate Selection. Hung-Lin Tao. Economics & Human Biology, October 13 2020, 100927. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ehb.2020.100927

Highlights

• Men’s height preferences are responsive to gender-role ideology.

• Women’s height preferences are insensitive to gender-role ideology.

• Women prefer a tall partner much more than men prefer a short partner.

• Women’s height preferences are sensitive to their own characteristics.

• In marriage, gender-role ideology is not relevant to their partners’ height.

Abstract: This study used Taiwan’s Panel Study of Family Dynamics (PSFD) 2016 data to investigate the relationship between gender-role ideology and height preference in mate selection, finding that women prefer a tall partner much more than men prefer a short partner. However, when traditional gender norms prevail, men with a high levels of adherence to gender-role ideology cannot accept a female partner who is either too tall or too short. Men’s height preferences are more responsive to social norms than women’s, while women’s height preferences are more sensitive to their own demographic characteristics than men’s. The tallest and shortest female partners accepted by men with strong traditional gender-role ideology are 2.37 cm shorter and 2.21 cm taller, respectively, than men who disagree with gender norms. In marriage, gender-role ideology is not relevant to partner height, regardless of sex.

Keywords: HeightGender-role ideologyMate selection