Women like their men tall, though there may be a ceiling effect (so to speak) at somewhat over 185 cm. According to many users, the dating site eHarmony reportedly discriminates against short men signing up because they can’t find matches for them.

If women were randomly paired with men, we would expect about 8-10% of women to be taller than their male partners. And this does happen occasionally: Nicole Kidman (180 cm) is a serial shorter-man coupler, overshadowing Keith Urban by 2 cm and Tom Cruise by 10 cm. But in reality, only about 4% of women are taller than their partners.

Very short men (less than 163 cm) have fewer lifetime sexual partners (five versus seven partners) than taller men. Tall men also have more reproductive success. Among homosexual men, men who prefer a more active sexual role prefer shorter partners, whereas those who prefer a more passive sexual role preferred taller partners.

Women’s preference for tall men varies with the menstrual cycle. Women are turned on by tall men more when they are in the follicular (fertile) phase, and when their partners were chosen with a short-term relationship in view.