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A curvilinear effect of height on reproductive success in human males

Human male height is associated with mate choice and intra-sexual competition, and therefore potentially with reproductive success. A literature review (n = 18) on the relationship between male height and reproductive success revealed a variety of relationships ranging from negative to curvilinear t...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Stulp, Gert, Pollet, Thomas V., Verhulst, Simon, Buunk, Abraham P.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Springer-Verlag 2011
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3277695/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22389549
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00265-011-1283-2
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author Stulp, Gert
Pollet, Thomas V.
Verhulst, Simon
Buunk, Abraham P.
author_facet Stulp, Gert
Pollet, Thomas V.
Verhulst, Simon
Buunk, Abraham P.
author_sort Stulp, Gert
collection PubMed
description Human male height is associated with mate choice and intra-sexual competition, and therefore potentially with reproductive success. A literature review (n = 18) on the relationship between male height and reproductive success revealed a variety of relationships ranging from negative to curvilinear to positive. Some of the variation in results may stem from methodological issues, such as low power, including men in the sample who have not yet ended their reproductive career, or not controlling for important potential confounders (e.g. education and income). We investigated the associations between height, education, income and the number of surviving children in a large longitudinal sample of men (n = 3,578; Wisconsin Longitudinal Study), who likely had ended their reproductive careers (e.g. > 64 years). There was a curvilinear association between height and number of children, with men of average height attaining the highest reproductive success. This curvilinear relationship remained after controlling for education and income, which were associated with both reproductive success and height. Average height men also married at a younger age than shorter and taller men, and the effect of height diminished after controlling for this association. Thus, average height men partly achieved higher reproductive success by marrying at a younger age. On the basis of our literature review and our data, we conclude that men of average height most likely have higher reproductive success than either short or tall men. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s00265-011-1283-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
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spelling pubmed-32776952012-03-01 A curvilinear effect of height on reproductive success in human males Stulp, Gert Pollet, Thomas V. Verhulst, Simon Buunk, Abraham P. Behav Ecol Sociobiol Original Paper Human male height is associated with mate choice and intra-sexual competition, and therefore potentially with reproductive success. A literature review (n = 18) on the relationship between male height and reproductive success revealed a variety of relationships ranging from negative to curvilinear to positive. Some of the variation in results may stem from methodological issues, such as low power, including men in the sample who have not yet ended their reproductive career, or not controlling for important potential confounders (e.g. education and income). We investigated the associations between height, education, income and the number of surviving children in a large longitudinal sample of men (n = 3,578; Wisconsin Longitudinal Study), who likely had ended their reproductive careers (e.g. > 64 years). There was a curvilinear association between height and number of children, with men of average height attaining the highest reproductive success. This curvilinear relationship remained after controlling for education and income, which were associated with both reproductive success and height. Average height men also married at a younger age than shorter and taller men, and the effect of height diminished after controlling for this association. Thus, average height men partly achieved higher reproductive success by marrying at a younger age. On the basis of our literature review and our data, we conclude that men of average height most likely have higher reproductive success than either short or tall men. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s00265-011-1283-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. Springer-Verlag 2011-11-15 2012 /pmc/articles/PMC3277695/ /pubmed/22389549 http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00265-011-1283-2 Text en © The Author(s) 2011 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial License which permits any noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and source are credited.
spellingShingle Original Paper
Stulp, Gert
Pollet, Thomas V.
Verhulst, Simon
Buunk, Abraham P.
A curvilinear effect of height on reproductive success in human males
title A curvilinear effect of height on reproductive success in human males
title_full A curvilinear effect of height on reproductive success in human males
title_fullStr A curvilinear effect of height on reproductive success in human males
title_full_unstemmed A curvilinear effect of height on reproductive success in human males
title_short A curvilinear effect of height on reproductive success in human males
title_sort curvilinear effect of height on reproductive success in human males
topic Original Paper
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3277695/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22389549
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00265-011-1283-2
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