Stulp Gert, Buunk Abraham P, Verhulst Simon, Pollet Thomas V
Department of Psychology, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
Evol Psychol. 2012 Aug 24;10(3):588-601. doi: 10.1177/147470491201000314.
Throughout the animal kingdom, larger males are more likely to attain social dominance. Several lines of evidence suggest that this relationship extends to humans, as height is positively related to dominance, status and authority. We hypothesized that height is also a determinant of authority in professional refereeing. According to the International Football Association Board, FIFA, football ("soccer") referees have full authority to enforce the laws of the game and should use their body language to show authority and to help control the match. We show that height is indeed positively related to authority status: referees were taller than their assistants (who merely have an advisory role) in both a national (French League) and an international (World Cup 2010) tournament. Furthermore, using data from the German League, we found that height was positively associated with authoritative behavior. Taller referees were better able to maintain control of the game by giving fewer fouls, thereby increasing the "flow of the game". Referee height was also positively associated with perceived referee competence, as taller referees were assigned to matches in which the visiting team had a higher ranking. Thus, height appears to be positively related to authority in professional refereeing.
在整个动物界，体型较大的雄性更有可能获得社会主导地位。有几条证据表明这种关系也适用于人类，因为身高与主导地位、地位和权威呈正相关。我们假设身高也是职业裁判权威的一个决定因素。根据国际足球联合会（FIFA）的规定，足球裁判有权执行比赛规则，并应使用肢体语言来展示权威并帮助控制比赛。我们发现身高确实与权威地位呈正相关：在国内（法国联赛）和国际（2010年世界杯）赛事中，裁判都比他们的助理（助理仅具有咨询角色）更高。此外，利用德国联赛的数据，我们发现身高与权威行为呈正相关。较高的裁判能够通过减少判罚次数更好地控制比赛，从而增加“比赛流畅性”。裁判身高也与裁判能力的认知呈正相关，因为较高的裁判被分配到客队排名较高的比赛中。因此，身高似乎与职业裁判的权威呈正相关。
