Candidates' Perceived Height and Voters' Preference in the 1992 Presidential Election

Abstract

In 1960 a significant tendency was reported for prospective voters to judge the US presidential candidate they favored as significantly taller than the candidate they did not favor. The present study was designed to replicate this finding in the 1992 presidential elections. 245 college students completed a brief questionnaire on their voting intentions and estimated the height of all three leading candidates. While findings were generally in the predicted direction, tendencies to over-estimate the relative height of one's favorite candidate were not statistically significant.