Evolutionary Psychology
www.epjournal.net – 2009. 7(4): 545-559
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Original Article
Height among Women is Curvilinearly Related to Life History Strategy
Abraham P. Buunk, Evolutionary Social Psychology, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands,
Email: a.p.buunk@rug.nl (Corresponding author).
Thomas V. Pollet, Evolutionary Social Psychology, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
Liga Klavina, Evolutionary Social Psychology, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
Aurelio José Figueredo, Psychology, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, USA.
Pieternel Dijkstra, Social Psychology, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
Abstract: It was hypothesized that women of medium height would show a more secure,
long-term mating pattern characterized by less jealousy, less intrasexual competition and a
“slower” life history strategy. In three samples of female undergraduate students clear
support was found for these hypotheses. In Study 1, among 120 participants, height was
curvilinearly related to well-established measures of possessive and reactive jealousy, with
women of medium height being less jealous than tall as well as short women. In Study 2,
among 40 participants, height was curvilinearly related to intrasexual competition, with
women of medium height being less competitive towards other women than tall as well as
short women. In Study 3, among 299 participants, height was curvilinearly related to the
Mini-K, a well-validated measure of “slower” life history strategy, with women of medium
height having a slower life history strategy than tall as well as short women. The results
suggest that women of medium height tend to follow a different mating strategy than either
tall or short women. Various explanations and implications of these results are discussed.
Keywords: height, jealousy, intrasexual competition, life history
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