This study examined the relationship between physical height and managerial promotion among 132 British managers from the civil services. The data were analyzed independently for 61 men and 71 women. Analysis suggested that rate of promotion was positively correlated with height. These coefficients were not reduced when the effect of personality profile associated with height was removed.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AzenS. P.SnibbeH. M.MontgomeryH. R. (1973) A longitudinal perspective study of success and performance of law enforcement officers. Journal of Applied Psychology, 57, 190–192.
2.
BaronR. A.ByrneD. (1987) Social psychology: Understanding human interaction. (5th ed.) Newton, MA: Allyn & Bacon.
3.
CampbellJ. P.DunnetteM. D.LawlerE. E.WeickK. E. (1970) Managerial behavior performance and effectiveness. New York: McGraw-Hill.
4.
CattellR. B. (1970) Handbook for the 16 Personality Factor Questionnaire. Champaign, IL: Institute for Personality & Ability Testing.
5.
DannenmaierW. D.ThuminF. J. (1964) Authority status as a factor in perceptual distortion of size. Journal of Social Psychology, 63, 361–365.
6.
DeckL. P. (1968) Buying brains by the inch. Journal of the College and University Personnel Administration, 19, 33–37.
7.
FlippoE. B. (1966) Principles of personnel management. New York: McGraw-Hill.
8.
HensleyW. E.AngoliM. (1980) Message valence, familiarity, sex, and personality effects on the perceptual distortion of height. Journal of Psychology, 104, 149–156.
9.
HensleyW. E.CooperR. (1987) Height and occupational success: A review and critique. Psychological Reports, 60, 843–849.
10.
KurtzD. L. (1969) Physical appearance and stature: Important variables in sales recruiting. Personnel Journal, 48, 981–983.
11.
LecheltE. C. (1975) Occupational affiliation and ratings of physical height and personal esteem. Psychological Reports, 36, 943–946.
12.
LernerR. M.MooreT. (1974) Sex and status effects on perception of physical attractiveness. Psychological Reports, 34, 1047–1050.
13.
LesterD.SheehanD. (1980) Attitudes of supervisors toward short police officers. Psychological Reports, 47, 462.
14.
LondonM.StumpfS. A. (1983) Effects of candidate characteristics on management promotion decisions: An experimental study. Personnel Psychology, 36, 241–259.
15.
MazurA.MazurJ.KeatingC. (1984) Military rank attainment of a West Point class: Effects of cadet's physical features. American Journal of Sociology, 90, 125–150.
16.
OtisJ. L. (1941) Procedures for the selection of salesmen for a detergent company. Journal of Applied Psychology, 25, 30–40.
17.
QuinnR. P.TaberJ. M.GordonR. K. (1968) The decision to discriminate: A study of executive selection. Ann Arbor, MI: Institute for Social Research, Univer. of Michigan.
18.
RumpE. E.DelinP. S. (1973) Differential accuracy in the status-height phenomenon and an experimenter effect. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 28, 343–347.
19.
RusmoreJ. T. (1973) Position description factors and executive promotion. Personnel Psychology, 26, 135–138.
20.
SavilleP. (1972) The British Standardisation of the 16 PF: Supplement of norms—Forms A and B. Windsor, Berkshire, UK: National Federation for Educational Research.
21.
SchippmannJ. S.PrienE. P. (1989) An assessment of the contributions of general mental ability and personality characteristics to management success. Journal of Business and Psychology, 3, 423–437.
22.
TomG.ShevellJ. (1986) The height of success. Sociology and Social Research, 71(1), 15–19.
23.
WilsonP. R. (1968) Perceptual distortion of height as a function of ascribed academic status. Journal of Social Psychology, 46, 97–102.