Height preferences in humans may not be universal: Evidence from the Datoga people of Tanzania

Many studies in Western societies have shown that women prefer relatively taller men as potential partners, whereas men prefer women who are slightly shorter than themselves. Here, we discuss possible limitations of previous results within the context of the stimuli used (i.e., differences in the perceived body size of female silhouettes). Our results show that, at least in a Polish sample (N = 231), modified stimuli did not essentially change the observed male-taller preferences. In contrast, we report height preferences in a traditional ethnic group, the Datoga people from Tanzania (N = 107), in which men and women preferred extreme sexual dimorphism in stature (SDS) sets (i.e., men and women chose women much taller or much shorter than themselves). Thus, our data do not accord with the suggestion of a universal preference for taller men, but rather suggests that height preferences may be influenced by cultural, environmental, and ecological conditions.

► Preferences for taller men do not appear to be universal.
► Datoga people from Tanzania preferred extreme sexual dimorphism in stature.
► Height preferences may be influenced by cultural, environmental, and ecological conditions.