Looking Up to Leaders: The Influence of Height Stereotypes for Teams

Abstract

The stereotypical association that people tend to make between height and power has been well-studied but typically focuses on individuals as the unit of analysis. Through a set of six preregistered studies, we examine ways in which the height-and-power association can influence the formation and perception of social units in which there is a difference in power (e.g., President and Vice President). Studies 1A-1B show that people appear to have a robust expectation that the less powerful member of a power-asymmetric pair should be shorter than the person’s superior. Studies 2A-2B consider a broader social context involving expectations relating to an employee and the person’s superior and subordinates, finding an expectation that a person’s superior should tend to be taller than a person’s subordinates. Studies 3A-3B examine whether power-asymmetric pairings whose heights are congruent or incongruent with the stereotypical height-and-power association are perceived differently and shows that people are more prone to invest in a pairing whose height profile fits the stereotype compared with a pairing where the superior is shorter than the subordinate. These findings contribute to research on group dynamics as well as debates concerning the relevance of appearance and body morphology in contemporary organizational settings.