Height and depression

Height and Psychology

Your height won't influence what you earn as much as your race or gender, but it may well be significant. In Britain and America, the tallest quarter of the population earns 10% more than the shortest quarter. A white American man averages a 1.8% higher income than his counterpart an inch shorter . Economics is not the only area in which taller people win: out of the US's 42 presidents, only eight have been below average height for the time. Most have been significantly taller than the average for white adult males of their eras . Tall men are also more likely to be married and have children.

Outside of normal height differences, people with growth deficiency are much more aware of the role height plays in their lives. A study done through a growth clinic showed that children with growth deficiency are more likely to have social problems. The problems included lower social competance, increased behavior problems, and low self-esteem. Another study found lower rates of employment and marriage when children with growth deficiency grew up
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One theory of why tall people are more successful is that there is stigma attatched to height, and thus short people are seen as easier to dominate. Another theory is that evolutionarily, tall people had an advantage in hunting and such and were thus associated with positive traits . Perhaps we still retain this association unconciously. The third theory is that taller people have a better-self image, and this increased confidence makes them more successful

Visual Perception Theory

In order to receive information from the environment we are equipped with sense organs e.g. eye, ear, nose.  Each sense organ is part of a sensory system which receives sensory inputs and transmits sensory information to the brain.

A particular problem for psychologists is to explain the process by which the physical energy received by sense organs forms the basis of perceptual experience. Sensory inputs are somehow converted into perceptions of desks and computers, flowers and buildings, cars and planes; into sights, sounds, smells, taste and touch experiences.

A major theoretical issue on which psychologists are divided is the extent to which perception relies directly on the information present in the stimulus.  Some argue that perceptual processes are not direct, but depend on the perceiver's expectations and previous knowledge as well as the information available in the stimulus itself.

This controversy is discussed with respect to Gibson (1966) who has proposed a direct theory of perception which is a 'bottom-up' theory, and Gregory (1970) who has proposed a constructivist (indirect) theory of perception which is a 'top-down' theory.

Does Our Height Influence Our Mental Health?

Most of us—and especially men—tend to exaggerate our height, adding an inch or so when we think we can get away with it. This is understandable: ours is a culture that valorizes the tall and belittles, as it were, the short. As a result, being tall brings with it a host of advantages.

The taller you are, for instance, the more likely you are to go on to higher education. This is true even after controlling for cognitive ability, suggesting that some kind of subtle—indeed unconscious—bias may be operating among educators. Being tall is also associated with career success: in fact it has been estimated that a person who is six feet tall is likely to earn around $166,000 more over the course of a 30-year career than someone who is five foot four. And as if this weren't sufficient, being tall is likely to help in your romantic life too: altezza mezza bellezza, as the Italians say—height is half of beauty. Thus taller adolescents of both sexes typically date more than their shorter peers, and tall men are more likely to find a long-term partner, or indeed several. (It's not all roses for the tall, however: they are more likely to be bitten by midges.)