Height discrimination (also known as heightism) is prejudice or discrimination against individuals based on height. In principle, it refers to the discriminatory treatment against individuals whose height is not within the normal acceptable range of height in a population. Various studies have shown it to be a cause of bullying, commonly manifested as unconscious microaggressions.[1][2]
Research indicates that people often use height as one factor to measure social status and fitness. Both the cognitive and the culturally-ingrained unconscious heuristic association between height and the mentioned traits has also been found to be stronger when assessing men than women.[3][4][5]
^Judge, Timothy A.; Cable, Daniel M. (2004). "The Effect of Physical Height on Workplace Success and Income: Preliminary Test of a Theoretical Model". Journal of Applied Psychology. 89 (3): 428–441. doi:10.1037/0021-9010.89.3.428. PMID15161403.
^Blaker, Nancy M.; Rompa, Irene; Dessing, Inge H.; Vriend, Anne F.; Herschberg, Channah; van Vugt, Mark (January 2013). "The height leadership advantage in men and women: Testing evolutionary psychology predictions about the perceptions of tall leaders". Group Processes & Intergroup Relations. 16 (1): 17–27. doi:10.1177/1368430212437211.
^Blaker, Nancy M.; Van Vugt, Mark (2014). "The Status-Size Hypothesis: How Cues of Physical Size and Social Status Influence Each Other". The Psychology of Social Status. pp. 119–137. doi:10.1007/978-1-4939-0867-7_6. ISBN978-1-4939-0866-0.