The impact of variations in height on young children's impressions of men and women

Two studies examined whether variations in height influence children's impressions of men and women. In Study 1, 28 preschool-aged children judged the strength, dominance, smartness, and concern for others of male and female targets of different heights. Children judged both taller male and female targets as stronger and more dominant, but not to have more concern for others or smartness than shorter targets. In Study 2, 71 preschool-aged children viewed pairs of male and female targets in three height conditions (male target taller, female target taller, targets equal height) and made trait judgments as in Study 1. Again, taller male targets were judged to be stronger, more dominant, and smarter, but not to have more concern for others than shorter female targets. Moreover, disruptions of gender-typical height differences were associated with reversals in impressions of male and female targets. That is, taller female targets were judged to be stronger, more dominant, and smarter when they appeared with shorter male targets. The present findings not only support the claim that physical stature figures importantly in the process by which children form trait impressions but also indicate that covariations between height and gender exert a strong impact on particular traits children attribute to men and women.Portions of this paper were presented at the 1991 meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, Seattle, Washington. Special thanks are extended to Stephanie Fein who created the stimulus materials and interviewed the children in Study 2, and to Todd Horvitz who interviewed the children in Study 1.