Women like Taller Men, Men don't Really Care: Study

For males, a pretty face and a nice physique may be more important. But for women, one thing's for certain: their partner has to be taller than them. At least, that's what the findings from a two-part study suggest, by researchers from the University of North Texas and Rice University.

In fact, their findings show that despite an "increasing equality in belief and practice between the sexes," height still unfortunately plays a role for important dating decisions. For example, background information from the study shows that more than half, or 55 percent of women in one part of the study, and almost half in the other part at 48 percent, said that they only wanted to date men who were taller than themselves, according to CBS News.

"Evolutionary psychology theory argues that 'similarity is overwhelmingly the rule in human mating,'" Michael Emerson, the Allyn and Gladys Cline Professor of Sociology, co-director of Rice's Kinder Institute for Urban Research and the study's co-author said, via Phys.org. "However, our study suggests that for physical features such as height, similarity is not the dominant rule, especially with females."

So why do most women prefer for their men to take the lead when it comes to height? The study notes that most women cited feeling more feminine and a sign of protection in a taller mate.

"As the girl, I like to feel delicate and secure at the same time," said a woman in the study who is 5 feet 3 inches tall. "Something just feels weird in thinking about looking 'down' into my man's eyes. There is also something to be said about being able to wear shoes with high heels and still being shorter. I also want to be able to hug him with my arms reaching up and around his neck."

Men, on the other hand, were more likely to take stock in overall physical appearance and less in how tall their partner was. However, some still said they would only date women shorter than themselves, at 25.5 percent.

According to lead study author George Yancey, a professor of sociology at the Universith of North Texas, he said he believes that these height preferences can be related to societal expectations and gender stereotypes. For instance, for women, being tall is a negative thing, whereas for men, it is a sign of strength and protection. "And in a society that encourages men to be dominant and women to be submissive," he notes that "having the image of tall men hovering over short women reinforces that value."

What do you think?

More information regarding the study can be found via the Journal of Family Issues.