Previous research has shown that taller people get paid more, for some strange reason. Now, it seems, taller people have been found to be smarter, according to a new study.

According to researchers Anne Case and Christina Paxson on Princeton University, "As early as age three - before schooling has had a chance to play a role - and throughout childhood, taller children perform significantly better on cognitive tests." In addition to this, they relate the acquiring of higher salaries by tall people as related to the jobs they choose, which seem to require more of a person mentally. Of course, they also mention that how the person is taken care of in his early years will also impact their future mental acuity.

One strange thing about this, though. Their findings were mostly based on two British studies examining kids born in 1958 and 1970. Not exactly a big indicator of current trends in intelligence, but for tall people with low self-esteem, that should be a boost, at the very least.

You can purchase the study if you wish, but their abstract can be acquired for free from the National Bureau of Economic Research Wesbite:

It has long been recognized that taller adults hold jobs of higher status and, on average, earn more than other workers. A large number of hypotheses have been put forward to explain the association between height and earnings. In developed countries, researchers have emphasized factors such as self esteem, social dominance, and discrimination. In this paper, we offer a simpler explanation: On average, taller people earn more because they are smarter. As early as age 3 — before schooling has had a chance to play a role — and throughout childhood, taller children perform significantly better on cognitive tests. The correlation between height in childhood and adulthood is approximately 0.7 for both men and women, so that tall children are much more likely to become tall adults. As adults, taller individuals are more likely to select into higher paying occupations that require more advanced verbal and numerical skills and greater intelligence, for which they earn handsome returns. Using four data sets from the US and the UK, we find that the height premium in adult earnings can be explained by childhood scores on cognitive tests. Furthermore, we show that taller adults select into occupations that have higher cognitive skill requirements and lower physical skill demands.