Short people are 'most prone to jealousy'

London, Mar 13 : Jealous lovers need not look any further than their height if they want something to blame for the attacks of the green-eyed monster, says a new research, which found that short people are more likely to feel jealous.

The findings were based on a study in which 549 men and women in the Netherlands and Spain were asked to rate how jealous they felt and to identify the qualities in a romantic competitor that were most likely bug them.

The study, conducted by researchers from the Universities of Groningen and Valencia, found that men, who generally felt most nervous about attractive, rich and strong rivals, were increasingly relaxed, the taller they were themselves.

While, women, on the other hand, were most jealous of others' beauty and charm, but least so if their own height was average.

Citing the conclusions, researchers said that the finding makes evolutionary sense because previous findings suggest that whilst taller men do best with the ladies, it is women of medium height who enjoy the best health, fertility and popularity with men.

But unlike tall men, medium-height women can be more vulnerable to jealousy under some circumstances.

Faced with socially or physically powerful rivals they actually felt more jealous than shorter or taller women.

According to the study, this may be because tall and strong, or socially well-connected women could well pose a threat to average-height feminine favourites since they might win conflicts, including physical fights.

"Taller women are more dominant and have greater fighting abilities than shorter women," New Scientist quoted the researchers, as stating.

The study is published in Evolution and Human Behavior.

ANI