Do we assume powerful people are taller?

A STUDY TO DETERMINE WHETHER PERCEPTUAL JUDGMENT OF HEIGHT WOULD BE INFLUENCED BY THE ASCRIBED ACADEMIC STATUS OF A STIMULUS FIGURE. 5 SEPARATE GROUPS OF 22 STUDENTS WERE ASKED TO ESTIMATE THE HEIGHT OF A MAN PRESENTED BEFORE THEM WHOSE ACADEMIC STATUS CHANGED WITH EACH OF THE 5 GROUPS. AS A CONTROL, SS ALSO ESTIMATED THE HEIGHT OF THEIR COURSE DIRECTOR WHOSE STATUS REMAINED CONSTANT OVER ALL GROUPS OF SS. RESULTS INDICATE THAT AS ASCRIBED ACADEMIC STATUS INCREASED, STUDENTS’ ESTIMATION OF HEIGHT INCREASED.

Source: “PERCEPTUAL DISTORTION OF HEIGHT AS A FUNCTION OF ASCRIBED ACADEMIC STATUS.” from The Journal of Social Psychology, Vol 74(1), 1968, 97-102.

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