From “Caveman Politics: Has Our Violent History Led to an Evolved Preference for Physically Strong Political Leaders?” (ScienceDaily, Oct. 18, 2011), we learn:
The author’s interest in the physical strength of political leaders stems from the popular observation that taller candidates have won 58 percent of US presidential elections between 1789 and 2008; a trend known as the “presidential height index” by political pundits.
“We believe this research extends beyond merely establishing an association between physical stature and leadership by offering a theoretical basis for this phenomenon,” said Schmitz. “Culture and environment alone cannot explain how a preference for taller leaders is a universal trait we see in different cultures today, as well as in societies ranging from ancient Mayans, to pre-classical Greeks, and even animals.”
They close with
“So while at 6’1″ Barack Obama towered over the 5’8″ John McCain in 2008, perhaps he’ll meet his physical equal in one of the ‘big man’ governors in the 6’1″ Rick Perry or the 6’2″ Mitt Romney in November 2012.”
Hold on! Big, loud people tend to stand out more easily than small, quiet people. That would be enough to explain the phenomenon in ancient times, without further theoretical basis.
The evolutionary psychologists may be on to something here, but it’s a good idea to ask what: People do expect leaders to be bigger than other people. In one country, a woman recounted gushing to a friend about Pierre Trudeau, who had clamped down hard on civil liberties,
“He’s shorter than he should be!” For you see, I’d thought that he must be a giant.
Trudeau’s key political opponent, Joe Clark, was portrayed as puny in the media, but there is good reason to believe that he was physically taller than Trudeau (now deceased). Perceptions of tallness in leaders are now largely folklore.
Now, could a taller opponent defeat Obama? Probably not, because if the example here offered is an indicator, popular folklore will simply portray whoever is the favourite of most opinion leaders … as taller. And no one need shout to get heard on the Internet.
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